BUSINESS BRIEFING / TECHNOLOGY

Charter Communications Inc., the U.S. cable television company controlled by billionaire Paul Allen, sued Verizon Communications Inc., alleging that the phone company’s FiOS fiber-optic network infringes four patents.

Verizon, the second-largest U.S. phone-services provider, should be ordered to pay damages and stop using on-demand and other technologies without permission, Charter said in a complaint filed in federal court in Norfolk, Va.