Court Delivers Interim Ruling in Patent Dispute Between Akamai and Digital Island
Following the trial, Digital Island asked Judge Zobel to find that all of the claims asserted by Akamai were invalid or not infringed, but the Judge rejected that argument in her latest ruling. As a result, claims 1, 3, 5 and 9 of the patent remain valid. The jury found that Digital Island's Footprint content delivery service infringes those claims, and the recent ruling reaffirmed the jury's infringement verdict.
"We are pleased that the Judge let stand the jury's verdict of validity and infringement of these claims," said Kathryn Meyer, Akamai General Counsel, "and we will continue to press our request for broad injunctive relief against the infringing Footprint service." Akamai's motion for an injunction remains pending before the court.
The Court's recent ruling also rejected Akamai's request to set aside the jury's verdict that several other claims of the '703 patent are invalid. "We expect we will appeal that ruling, but it does not impact what we believe is our right to an immediate injunction, because claims 1, 3, 5 and 9 remain fully valid and clearly infringed," Meyer added.
About Akamai
Akamai is a leading provider of secure, outsourced e-business infrastructure services and software. These services and software enable companies to reduce the complexity and cost of deploying and operating a uniform Web infrastructure while ensuring unmatched performance, reliability, scalability and manageability. Akamai's services give businesses a distinct competitive advantage and provide an unparalleled Internet experience for their customers. Akamai's intelligent edge platform for content, streaming media, and application delivery comprises more than 12,600 servers within over 1,000 networks in 66 countries. With headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamai provides services and industry-renowned customer care to hundreds of enterprises worldwide, including dozens of Fortune 500 businesses. For information on Delivering a Better InternetSM, visit www.akamai.com.
Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, intentional disruptions on Akamai's network and services, unknown errors or defects in our services or software and other factors that are discussed in the Akamai's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
| Contacts: |
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| Jeff Young Media Relations Akamai Technologies (617) 444 - 3913 jyoung@akamai.com |
--or-- | J.C. Raby Investor Relations Akamai Technologies (877) 567 - 7167 jraby@akamai.com |
Key Patent Claims Remain Infringed
CAMBRIDGE, MA - May 28, 2002 - Judge Rya Zobel of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts has issued a ruling in the legal dispute involving a content delivery patent asserted by Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM) against Digital Island, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cable & Wireless plc. In December 2001, an eight-person jury found that Digital Island infringed seven asserted claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,108,703 issued in the name of Akamai's founders, Tom Leighton and the late Danny Lewin. That same jury also rejected Digital Island's contention that all the claims asserted by Akamai were invalid.Following the trial, Digital Island asked Judge Zobel to find that all of the claims asserted by Akamai were invalid or not infringed, but the Judge rejected that argument in her latest ruling. As a result, claims 1, 3, 5 and 9 of the patent remain valid. The jury found that Digital Island's Footprint content delivery service infringes those claims, and the recent ruling reaffirmed the jury's infringement verdict.
"We are pleased that the Judge let stand the jury's verdict of validity and infringement of these claims," said Kathryn Meyer, Akamai General Counsel, "and we will continue to press our request for broad injunctive relief against the infringing Footprint service." Akamai's motion for an injunction remains pending before the court.
The Court's recent ruling also rejected Akamai's request to set aside the jury's verdict that several other claims of the '703 patent are invalid. "We expect we will appeal that ruling, but it does not impact what we believe is our right to an immediate injunction, because claims 1, 3, 5 and 9 remain fully valid and clearly infringed," Meyer added.
About Akamai
Akamai is a leading provider of secure, outsourced e-business infrastructure services and software. These services and software enable companies to reduce the complexity and cost of deploying and operating a uniform Web infrastructure while ensuring unmatched performance, reliability, scalability and manageability. Akamai's services give businesses a distinct competitive advantage and provide an unparalleled Internet experience for their customers. Akamai's intelligent edge platform for content, streaming media, and application delivery comprises more than 12,600 servers within over 1,000 networks in 66 countries. With headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamai provides services and industry-renowned customer care to hundreds of enterprises worldwide, including dozens of Fortune 500 businesses. For information on Delivering a Better InternetSM, visit www.akamai.com.
Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, intentional disruptions on Akamai's network and services, unknown errors or defects in our services or software and other factors that are discussed in the Akamai's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
