J2 Global Communications Inc., which provides integrated Internet fax and voice-mail services, said it has filed patent infringement lawsuits against three competitors.

The Los Angeles based company announced Monday that on June 26 it sued RapidFax messaging-services provider EasyLink Services International Corp. of Norcross, Ga.; Internet fax service and virtual PBX phone service provider Protus IP Solutions Inc. of Ottawa, Ontario; and fax software and document management services provider Captaris Inc. of Bellevue, Wash.

J2, which owns 57 U.S. and foreign patents and has 49 pending patent applications, is seeking unspecified damages and an order that would stop the alleged infringement. The suit was filed in federal court in Tyler, Texas.

Representatives from three companies sued by j2 Global didn't immediately return calls. Shares of j2 were up 21 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $23.51 at mid-morning, after earlier rising 47 cents on the Nasdaq.

In addition to these cases, j2 Global has pending patent infringement cases against Protus relating to various other patents before California and Canadian courts, and j2 has a pending patent infringement case against Captaris relating to a separate patent in a case pending in Georgia.