Thursday, June 5, 2014

Limelight Networks Win At Supreme Court To Shape Patent Law

A patent infringement lawsuit--filed by rival CDN provider Akamai against Tempe, Arizona-based Limelight Networks, made it all the way to the Supreme Court this week, and is expected to help shape how patent infringement lawsuits are conducted. The patent lawsuit, Limelight vs. Akamai, has been ongoing since 2006, and had accused Limelight of something called "induced infringement", claiming that Limelight violated part--but not all--of a patent held by Akamai, and had encouraged others to violate other parts of Akamai's patent. In the opinion issued by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court reverses an earlier ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The decision gives Limelight a definitive win in the lawsuit. The Supreme Court decision said that patent infringement does not occur unless all the steps outlined in a patent are carried out.