When people hear that two companies are going at each other in court, they tend to think of firms like Apple and Google (News - Alert). The reality is those are far from the only companies that are squaring off in this kind of a court battle. Two companies most would likely not think of as having many patents to protect at all are AT&T and Cox, with AT&T (News - Alert) claiming Cox has stolen a number of patents that have to do IP voice, and high-speed Internet services.

The suit, filed on August 28 claims that Cox (News - Alert) is infringing on a number of different patents. What’s more, the telecommunications company is claiming Cox was first contacted in 2009 about these alleged infringements. “Despite years of protracted negotiations, Cox has sought to avoid payment for its infringement by repeatedly delaying and rescheduling negotiations,” the telco claimed in the filing. “Given every opportunity, Cox has failed to provide substantial arguments for either non-infringement or invalidity of AT&T’s patents.”

Just how this particular court case is going to shake out, is anyone’s guess at this point. If there are records of AT&T contacting Cox about the infringements and Cox didn’t respond it doesn’t seem like this case will be taking all that long. Among the patents AT&T is alleging were being infringed up by Cox is a Packet Telephone Systems, which uses IP-based voice systems. There was also a patent on Packet Loss for Frame Erasure Concealment. This was a method that is used in voice transmission. Cable Data Service Method, Profile Management System Including User Interface.

AT&T is looking for rewards in exchange for what it believes Cox is doing. The company is looking for what it calls a “reasonable royalty.” The company also wants Cox to pay a compulsory and ongoing royalty for future infringements of the patents that are listed in the suit.