In Akamai v. Limelight (Fed. Cir. Aug. 13, 2015), the Federal Circuit sitting en banc provided a comprehensive definition of direct patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. §271(a) for a method claim when the steps of the method claim are performed by two or more actors, or also known as divided patent infringement. For a discussion of the litigation history of Akamai v. … [Read more...]
Joint infringement
Joint infringement of a patent occurs when the acts of multiple entities constitute patent infringement.
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SCOTUS reduces liability for indirect patent infringement
The scope of patent protection of a patent is defined by the claims. Ideally, the claims should be written in a variety of ways so that different entities along the distribution channel can be identified as direct infringers. These entities include manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and end users. Each one of these entities may be sued for patent infringement, but … [Read more...]
Offloading A Step In A Method Claim Avoids Patent Infringement
Joint infringement is sought when one party does not perform all of the steps in a method claim. For example, one party may outsource one step to a third party. Alternatively, one step to the method claim may be conducted by the end user or customer. The following case held that joint infringement when neither party performs all of the steps separately but does so … [Read more...]