NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vonage Holdings Corp <VG.N> said on Tuesday that it will appeal a U.S. jury verdict that it willfully infringed patents belonging to Sprint Nextel Corp <S.N> and that it pay $69.5 million in damages.

"Vonage will ask the court to set aside the verdict, and if it is not granted, will vigorously pursue an appeal of the decision, including the underlying issue of liability and the willfulness aspect," Vonage said in a statement, adding that it will try to develop technology to avoid infringing the patents.

Trading in Vonage shares was halted on Nasdaq early on Tuesday afternoon after sliding 7.7 percent to $1.81.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)