Akamai Technologies, Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (plaintiff) owned a patent claiming methods for delivering internet content, including steps for tagging and serving such content. Akamai sued Limelight Networks, Inc. (defendant), for patent infringement. At trial, evidence established that as part of Limelight’s content delivery service, Limelight’s customers tagged and served internet content delivered by Limelight’s network. Additionally, Limelight required customers to execute a contract outlining the steps customers must perform to use Limelight’s service, including tagging and serving content. Limelight also instructed customers how to use the service, including tagging and serving content, and explained that a Limelight account manager would direct service implementation. The district judge instructed the jury that Limelight’s customers’ performance of the tagging and serving steps of the patented method could be attributed to Limelight, and Limelight thus could be found to have directly infringed Akamai’s patent, if Limelight directed or controlled its customers’ activities. The jury found that Limelight infringed the patent. The district court granted Limelight’s motion for judgment as a matter of law and entered judgment of noninfringement. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the district court, but the United States Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit and remanded for the court to reconsider the scope of divided infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 271(a).