By Brent Kendall
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to make it easier to
hold companies liable for encouraging others to commit patent
infringement.
The high court's decision came in a patent fight between
Internet services companies Akamai Technologies Inc. and Limelight
Networks Inc. Akamai filed a lawsuit in 2006 alleging Limelight
copied its technology for helping website owners manage their
online traffic more efficiently.
A divided U.S. appeals court ruled Akamai could proceed with
claims that Limelight encouraged customers to infringe the Akamai
patent.
The Supreme Court reversed that ruling in a unanimous opinion
that sided with Limelight. The court, in an opinion written by
Justice Samuel Alito, said a company can't be held liable for
encouraging patent infringement unless some single party performs
every step in the patent.
Justice Alito said a specialized appeals court that ruled for
Akamai "fundamentally misunderstands what it means to infringe a
method patent."
Several leading technology companies including Google Inc.,
Facebook Inc. and Oracle Corp., had supported Limelight in the
case, saying a win for Akamai could have opened the door to new
patent infringement lawsuits and escalated litigation costs.
Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com
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