Limelight sues Akamai in latest patent battle
Limelight Networks, a content delivery provider, has sued rival Akamai for allegedly infringing six patents, in a complaint filed less than a month after the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled on nine-year dispute between the pair.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday, November 30 at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Limelight sued both Akamai and telecoms company XO Communications.
The patents cover a range of inventions that are “critical to the effective and efficient delivery” of bytes by a content delivery network, Limelight said.
Bob Lento, chief executive of Limelight, said: “Akamai and XO Communications have been relying on our patented inventions to unfairly compete with us in a dynamic and growing marketplace.
“Their blatant disregard of our patent rights and the resulting harm to our business forced us to file these claims.”
The lawsuit comes less than a month after the federal circuit dismissed Limelight’s remaining claims in what was a nine-year patent dispute with Akamai, which had sued Limelight for patent infringement.
It meant that a 2008 decision to award Akamai $45.5 million in damages will be restored pending a final ruling by the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
The remaining part of the dispute, which made it all the way to the US Supreme Court, was Limelight’s appeal against the district court’s interpretation of the terms “tagging” and “optimal” asserted in the disputed patent.
A spokesperson for Akamai said it has yet to see the details of the lawsuit and has no comment on the matter.
It added: "The timing is certainly suspect given the recent decisions that have gone against Limelight in our long-running patent infringement suit against them."
