Akamai Technologies Inc. won another round in its long-running patent infringement case against a competitor on Thursday when federal appeals judges restored a jury verdict in Akamai’s favor.
Thursday’s ruling from the federal Appeals Court holds that Limelight Networks, based in Tempe, Ariz., was responsible for infringing a key Akamai patent covering the way content is distributed across the Internet.
Akamai and Limelight both offer software that helps speed up the response time of its customers’ websites, in part by storing large files, such as music or videos, at points along the digital network that are closer to the end user.
Akamai sued Limelight in 2006 for infringing an MIT patent that Akamai uses under an exclusive license, and won $45 million in damages at trial.
But the ruling was later overturned based on the argument that Limelight’s customers, rather than the company itself, were in charge of performing one of the technical steps included in a long list of procedures under the Akamai patent.
The case made its way to the US Supreme Court, which decided against Akamai but also left the door open for lower-court judges to find in Akamai’s favor on a different element of the patent law.
Thursday’s decision from the Court of Appeals did just that, holding that Limelight effectively infringed on the patent even though it skipped one step in the patented content-delivery process by having customers perform the work.
“Limelight’s customers do not merely take Limelight’s guidance and act independently on their own. Rather, Limelight establishes the manner and timing of its customers’ performance so that customers can only avail themselves of the service upon their performance of the [patented] steps,” the court wrote.
“Akamai is at the forefront of innovation on the Internet and today’s ruling recognizes the strength of our intellectual property,” spokesman Jeff Young said in a statement. “We believe strongly that a company’s intellectual property is a valuable asset which must be protected and defended.”
The case is not necessarily finished, with some questions of the original appeal still unresolved, the court said.
Limelight said it was studying its legal options, but noted that the technology in question “has not been in use at Limelight for many years.”
“We are disappointed this outcome isn’t aligned with the recent rulings in our favor, which were supported by many global technology and industry leading companies, and are determined to continue the process,” Limelight chief executive Bob Lento said in a statement.
The case had been closely watched by tech and life sciences companies, which are keenly interested in both protecting their patent assets and preventing themselves from having to pay so-called “patent trolls,” companies that buy up unused patents and use them to extract licensing fees.
Akamai’s shares were trading slightly higher following the ruling, while Limelight’s dropped more than 15 percent.
Updated 7:15 a.m. Aug. 14 with comment from Limelight.