Two of the hot topics in the patent area right now are cloud computing and the doctrine of joint infringement. Joint infringement, also known as divided infringement, is the situation where a patent is drafted in such a way that the actions of more than one actor are required to infringe the patent. Under current U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit case law, in general, one actor must be in ultimate control of the other actors performing the relevant acts for there to be infringement. In this area, patent practitioners are anxiously awaiting further guidance from the Federal Circuit in the pending Akamai Technologies Inc. v Limelight Networks Inc. (Case Nos. 2009-1372, 2009-1380, 2009-1416 and 2009-1417) and McKesson Technologies Inc. v. Epic Systems Corporation (Case No. 2010-1291) cases, which will be discussed below.
Cloud computing, in its most simplistic form, is a model of computing where computer applications or computer resources are located off-site from where the ultimate user is located, i.e., in “the cloud,” and are provided as a service to the ultimate user or to a third-party service provider. Cloud computing includes three typical forms: Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service.
