Akamai v. Limelight Networks
CaseSight Helps Choate Preserve Akamai Business and Brand
THE MATTER:
Limelight Threatens Akamai's CDN Market
In 2006, Akamai Technologies, the world’s leading content delivery network (CDN) developer and provider, brought suit against Limelight Networks, claiming Limelight’s CDN technology infringed on Akamai’s CDN-related patents. Boston’s Choate Hall and Stewart (Choate) represented Akamai in the suit.
The challenge of explaining the Internet technology at the heart of Akamai’s patents was apparent to Choate and Akamai early in the litigation. In the early stages of trial preparation, Choate partner Bob Frank called CaseSight to develop case presentation strategy and assets that would help him develop a strong record, better prepare expert and fact witnesses, and successfully press Akamai’s argument to the Boston jury.
THE CASESIGHT EFFECT:
Tutorials and Demonstratives Clarify, Explain, Persuade
CaseSight worked with the Choate team to develop interactive tutorials, Flash animations and 2D demonstratives designed to clarify and simplify the workings of the Internet and Akamai’s CDN technology, and clearly present the exact nature of the infringement to the jury. CaseSight’s Presentation Consultant and expert designers created over 30 explanatory modules to support opening arguments, witness and fact testimony, and closing arguments, that allowed Choate’s presenting attorneys to step through the complex explanation and their argument in a clear, contextualized, compelling, memorable way. CaseSight’s explanatory modules helped Frank demonstrate to the jury that Limelight’s content delivery network mimicked the design of Akamai’s proprietary CDN technology, and therefore infringed on its patent.
From mock through trial, the CaseSight team worked closely with Choate’s attorneys, witnesses, and consultants, as well as with Akamai, helping the team revise, refine, and rehearse the case presentation strategy and assets and helped Frank drive the infringement argument home to the jury with confidence.
THE OUTCOME:
Akamai Enhances CDN Market Share, Awarded $46.5 Million
The jury in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts ruled that Limelight infringed every one of Akamai’s CDN patents. CaseSight’s case presentation strategy and designs clearly explained the technology and bolstered Frank’s arguments, helping to drive a combined $46.5 Million award for Akamai.
» Download a PDF of the Patent Infringement case study
