Cable & Wireless America and Akamai Reach Agreement Over Patent Disputes
November 07 2003 - 12:16PM
PR Newswire (US)
Cable & Wireless America and Akamai Reach Agreement Over Patent
Disputes SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Cable & Wireless America today announced that it has reached an
agreement with Akamai Technologies, Inc. over the patent disputes
relating to the two companies' content delivery network (CDN)
services. Under the agreement, the two companies have agreed to
dismiss the two lawsuits recently filed by Akamai against Cable
& Wireless and the pending lawsuits filed by Cable &
Wireless against Akamai, release each company from all previous
patent infringements, and refrain for five years from further
patent litigation under their present patent portfolios and related
patents. As part of the agreement, no cash payments or compensation
will be made and each party may continue to offer its CDN services.
Akamai will be permitted to pursue its damages claims resulting
from the litigation relating to U.S. Patent No. 6,108,703. A judge
limited the scope of Akamai's claims to a CDN technology previously
used by Cable & Wireless America to support a small number of
customers. Cable & Wireless America expects any damages that
might be awarded to be immaterial to its business. "We are pleased
to be able to reach a settlement and put this episode behind us,"
said Cheryl Houser, acting general counsel, Cable & Wireless
America. "Our recently issued foreign patents, our expected
additional U.S. patents, and the District Court and recent Federal
Circuit decisions invalidating Akamai patent claims confirmed the
scope and priority of our inventions. While we are confident that
we would have been successful, the litigation would have continued
for years, and we felt that it was better for our companies and the
CDN industry to reach closure on these matters." About Cable &
Wireless America Cable & Wireless America is one of the leading
providers of complex hosting and IP solutions for global
enterprises, counting 40% of the Fortune 100 among its customers.
The company's portfolio of services includes a wide range of
flexible and secure IP connectivity and networking solutions along
with complete and secure infrastructure to support complex web
hosting. Cable & Wireless America is part of the Cable &
Wireless group, whose principal operations are in the United
Kingdom, continental Europe, the United States, Japan, the
Caribbean, Panama, the Middle East and Macau. For more information
about Cable & Wireless America, go to http://www.cwusa.com/.
DATASOURCE: Cable & Wireless America CONTACT: media, Chad
Couser, +1-703-667-6180, or , or industry analysts, Rolyn Parker,
1-415-738-4643, or , both of Cable & Wireless America Web site:
http://www.cw.com/
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