On eve of IPO, company sued for patent infringement by defunct rival

Two weeks after announcing plans for an initial public offering, a video conferencing platform has been accused of infringing crucial technology from a defunct rival.

A patent infringement lawsuit, filed Friday by McDermott Will & Emery LLP in the Northern District of California, accuses Dave Berman -- the former president of Zoom Video Communications Inc., who previously sat on the board of rival ooVoo LLC.

"Mr. Berman regularly received confidential information regarding ooVoo's technologies and its strategies," the lawsuit states.

Berman is believed to have had knowledge of the three patents in question, the lawsuit alleges.

He was president of Zoom from 2015 until last October.

Neither Zoom, its legal counsel, nor Berman could be reached for comment.

Paul M. Schoenhard, Nicole M. Jatnzi and Sami Sedghani of McDermott Will & Emery represent Krush Technologies LLC, a digital advertising firm that holds the ooVoo patents in the case. Krush Technologies LLC v. Zoom Video Communications, Inc., 19-CV01841 (N.D. Cal., filed April 5, 2019).

Schoenhard declined to comment.

The lawsuit, before U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco, came two weeks after Zoom filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission proposing terms of an IPO. Zoom estimated it could raise $668 million at $32 per share, according to the S-1 form released Monday.

Launched in 2006, ooVoo at one point was the market leader in video chat, video conferencing and mobile and web-based communications, according to the lawsuit. Zoom, founded in 2011, provides similar video conferencing, online meetings and group messaging.

The patents in dispute are for audio and video synchronization, a crucial part of video conferencing technology, the lawsuit states.

"Zoom offers several products and services that leverage Krush's patented inventions as part of its 'cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat and webinars across mobile devices, desktops, telephones and room systems," the lawsuit states. "As a result of Zoom's activities, including those activities believed to be infringing, Zoom has reported gross revenue for the year ended January 31, 2019, of greater than $330 million." lawsuit states.