A subsidiary of Sprint Nextel Corp. has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Vonage Holdings Corp., Voiceglo Holdings Inc. and theglobe.com Inc. in the U. S. District Court for the District of Kansas.

Sprint Nextel asserts these companies have willfully infringed seven patents relating to voice over packet technology developed by Sprint Nextel.

The company says the patents protect a series of innovations that enable the processing and delivery of packetized voice and data communications, including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications.

In the lawsuit, Sprint Nextel seeks an injunction that would prevent these companies from further "misappropriating" Sprint Nextel’s technology. The lawsuit also seeks unspecified monetary damages arising from the companies’ unauthorized use of the patented technology and the continued willful infringement of Sprint Nextel’s patents.