Voxson Pty Limited v Telstra Corporation Limited (No 4)

The case of Voxson Pty Limited v Telstra Corporation Limited (No 4) involved the plaintiff, Voxson Pty Limited, a registered patentee, and the defendants, Telstra Corporation Limited, Optus and Vodafone. Voxson alleged that the defendants had infringed Australian Standard Patent No 676242, which expired in 2012, through the operation of their mobile telephone networks. The patent, which has a priority date of December 1992, relates to ‘Positioning systems utilizing mobile telephone system for correction signals’. Voxson sought damages or an account of profits from each of the defendants.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether Voxson should be granted leave to amend its amended statements of claim and amended originating application. The case revolved around the technical aspects of the patent, specifically the relationship between the traffic and control channels and the ‘special signalling layer’ referred to in claim 1 of the patent. Voxson alleged that the defendants transmitted a ‘local positioning information signal’ on a ‘special signalling layer’ provided by their networks. However, it had agreed since at least the letter of 22 April 2016 that the ‘local positioning information signal’ upon which it relied was only transmitted on the traffic channel of the networks. Voxson said that it had never said otherwise.

The court considered the matter in detail, focusing predominantly on the Optus pleading. The court held that the relationship between the traffic and control channels and the ‘special signalling layer’ referred to in claim 1 of the patent was crucial to the outcome of the case. The court found that the technical aspects of the patent and the allegations of infringement were complex and required careful consideration. Ultimately, the court concluded that Voxson should be granted leave to amend its amended statements of claim and amended originating application. This decision allowed Voxson to further develop its case and pursue its claims against the defendants.

In conclusion, the court granted Voxson leave to amend its amended statements of claim and amended originating application. The matter was listed for further directions on 30 August 2016 at 9.30am. The parties were required to bring in short minutes of order within 14 days to give effect to these reasons. This decision allowed Voxson to continue pursuing its claims against the defendants and develop its case further.