If Not Acquired, Limelight May Work With Other CDNs To Fight Akamai’s 703 Patent

Why there is a lot of speculation on exactly what may happen to Limelight in terms of a potential acquisition, my bet is on AT&T or Level 3, there is also the possibility that Limelight may team up with other CDNs to fight Akamai’s 703 patent if they are not acquired.

At the core of the 703 patent is the idea that Akamai has essentially patented all forms of delivering content on the web. Based on the ruling today, the court is basically saying that any content publisher that has a website with ANY embedded object (not just video) that is not delivered under the control of the content producer is infringing on the 703 patent. There was some very specific working about this in the ruling today and I will publish the exact wording shortly when I have the transcript.

Don’t be surprised if Limelight rallies other CDNs to the patent fight under the belief that the 703 patent is too broad and is essentially patenting all content delivery on the Internet.