On Friday, August 31, the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of Finnegan client Akamai, in a 6-5 en banc decision that “a party can be held liable for induced infringement if it performs some steps of a patent and induces others to perform the remaining steps.” Finnegan partner Kara F. Stoll stated, “the ruling eliminates the situation that existed under the previous ruling in which companies could avoid another’s patent rights by having an unrelated company perform one step of a patented process. Now there's an opportunity for patent owners to prove infringement in these circumstances. Ms. Stoll added, “Companies that develop this type of invention will have their patent properly protected.” Finnegan represented Akamai in this matter.
