DCT

1:24-cv-01336

OptiMorphix Inc v. Akamai Tech Inc

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I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information

  • Parties & Counsel:
  • Case Identification: 1:24-cv-01336, D. Del., 03/14/2025
  • Venue Allegations: Plaintiff alleges venue is proper as Defendant is a Delaware corporation.
  • Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s content delivery network, video optimization, and web performance products infringe seven patents related to network traffic management, multi-link communication, and content adaptation.
  • Technical Context: The technology domain involves methods for optimizing the delivery of data, especially video and web content, over variable-condition networks such as the mobile internet, a core function of modern content delivery networks.
  • Key Procedural History: The complaint notes that U.S. Patent No. 7,099,273, one of the patents-in-suit, recently underwent Ex Parte Reexamination at the USPTO following a request by a third party. The proceeding concluded with the issuance of a Reexamination Certificate confirming the patentability of all original claims 1-15, which may influence subsequent validity challenges in this litigation.

Case Timeline

Date Event
2000-01-01 Bytemobile, Inc. was founded
2001-04-12 U.S. Patent No. 7,099,273 Priority Date
2003-09-03 U.S. Patent No. 7,616,559 Priority Date
2006-08-29 U.S. Patent No. 7,099,273 Issued
2006-12-08 U.S. Patent No. 9,275,167 Priority Date
2009-03-31 U.S. Patent Nos. 10,412,388 & 9,894,361 Priority Date
2009-11-10 U.S. Patent No. 7,616,559 Issued
2012-03-30 U.S. Patent No. 9,167,021 Filing Date
2012-07-01 Bytemobile acquired by Citrix Systems, Inc.
2014-12-19 U.S. Patent No. 9,936,040 Filing Date
2015-10-20 U.S. Patent No. 9,167,021 Issued
2016-03-01 U.S. Patent No. 9,275,167 Issued
2018-02-13 U.S. Patent No. 9,894,361 Issued
2018-04-03 U.S. Patent No. 9,936,040 Issued
2019-09-10 U.S. Patent No. 10,412,388 Issued
2024-03-08 Request for Ex Parte Reexamination of the ’273 Patent filed
2024-04-29 USPTO granted Ex Parte Reexamination of the ’273 Patent
2024-09-11 USPTO confirmed patentability of all claims of the ’273 Patent
2024-11-14 USPTO issued Ex Parte Reexamination Certificate for the ’273 Patent
2025-03-14 First Amended Complaint Filed

II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis

U.S. Patent No. 7,099,273, "Data Transport Acceleration and Management Within a Network Communication System," Issued August 29, 2006

The Invention Explained

  • Problem Addressed: The patent addresses inefficient data transport in networks with variable or unpredictable conditions, such as wireless networks (Compl. ¶17). It states that conventional Transport Control Protocol (TCP) architectures, which rely on flow control and congestion mechanisms designed for symmetric, stable networks, perform poorly in these environments, leading to under-utilization of bandwidth and a "bursty nature of data transmission" that harms applications like streaming audio and video (’273 Patent, col. 1:38-41, col. 2:1-6).
  • The Patented Solution: The invention proposes a system for accelerating data transport using techniques that include a "transmit timer" to control the data flow from sender to receiver (’273 Patent, Abstract). Instead of sending packets primarily in response to acknowledgements, the patented method transmits packets upon the expiration of this timer, whose period is dynamically adjusted based on a ratio of the smoothed round-trip time and the smoothed congestion window, aiming to reduce bursty transmissions and better match the network's actual capacity (’273 Patent, col. 4:39-49).
  • Technical Importance: This technology aimed to improve data transfer efficiency in emerging mobile networks where asymmetric channels and variable conditions were common (Compl. ¶19-20).

Key Claims at a Glance

  • The complaint asserts at least independent claim 1 (Compl. ¶100).
  • Claim 1 requires a method for transferring data with the following steps:
    • establishing a connection between the sender and the receiver;
    • measuring round trip times of data packets sent from the sender to the receiver;
    • determining a congestion window parameter that specifies a maximum number of unacknowledged data packets that may be sent to the receiver; and
    • transmitting additional data packets to the receiver in response to expiration of a transmit timer, the period of the transmit timer based on the round trip time measurements and the congestion window parameter.
  • The complaint does not explicitly reserve the right to assert dependent claims for this patent.

U.S. Patent No. 7,616,559, "Multi-Link Network Architecture, Including Security, In Seamless Roaming Communications Systems And Methods," Issued November 10, 2009

The Invention Explained

  • Problem Addressed: The patent is directed to the problem of maintaining secure and reliable communication for mobile or roaming devices that must operate over multiple communication links (e.g., cellular and Wi-Fi) (Compl. ¶29). Prior art systems struggled with dropped connections, packet loss, and latency when switching between disparate networks and protocols (Compl. ¶32).
  • The Patented Solution: The invention describes a multi-link architecture that can "seamlessly detecting, selecting, and switching between available links" (’559 Patent, Abstract; Compl. ¶33). The system employs a "link detector" to determine link usability, a "pathfinder" to select the best link, "link handover" to switch between links, and an "auto reconnector" to re-establish communication if a connection is hindered or terminated (Compl. ¶31).
  • Technical Importance: This architecture advanced the resilience and operational efficiency of network communications for mobile devices by enabling them to maintain connectivity during transitions between different network environments (Compl. ¶34).

Key Claims at a Glance

  • The complaint asserts at least independent claim 5 (Compl. ¶125).
  • Claim 5 requires a method of communications with the following steps:
    • detecting a first communications link having a first security feature for communicating information between a client device and a server device;
    • detecting a second communications link having a second security feature for communicating information between the client device and the server device;
    • selecting the first communications link for communicating the information;
    • if the first communications link is not available, selecting the second communications link for communicating the information; and
    • if communications are hindered over the second communications link, reconnecting to the first communications link.
  • The complaint does not explicitly reserve the right to assert dependent claims for this patent.

U.S. Patent No. 9,275,167, "Content Adaptation," Issued March 1, 2016

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent addresses problems in managing data in distributed storage systems, where data is spread across geographically dispersed nodes (Compl. ¶41). The invention purports to solve technical problems of data availability, redundancy, and efficient retrieval by providing improved methods for how data is stored, distributed, and retrieved in a network of computers (Compl. ¶42-43).
  • Asserted Claims: At least claim 14 (Compl. ¶147).
  • Accused Features: The complaint alleges infringement by Akamai products, including Akamai ION, that perform webpage rendering and content adaptation. The accused functionality involves identifying content sections in a webpage's Document Object Model (DOM), transforming the DOM for mobile devices, and generating an adapted version of the webpage (Compl. ¶133, 135, 137, 141).

U.S. Patent No. 10,412,388, "Framework for Quality-Aware Video Optimization," Issued September 10, 2019

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent addresses shortcomings in single-pass video rate control, where the relationship between a video frame's byte size and its quantization parameter (QP) is only known after encoding (Compl. ¶48). The patented solution is a quality-aware video optimization technique that receives an encoded video frame, extracts a first QP, acquires a delta QP, calculates a second QP, and recompresses the frame using the second QP to control quality degradation while reducing byte size (Compl. ¶47, 49).
  • Asserted Claims: At least claim 1 (Compl. ¶174).
  • Accused Features: The complaint accuses Akamai products that perform H.265 video encoding, such as Akamai Image & Video Manager (Compl. ¶157). The infringement theory is that compliance with the H.265 (HEVC) standard necessarily requires performing the claimed steps of identifying an initial QP, adjusting it based on a delta value, calculating a new QP, and encoding the frame using the new QP (Compl. ¶169-170).

U.S. Patent No. 9,894,361, "Framework for Quality-Aware Video Optimization," Issued February 13, 2018

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent, a related patent to the ’388 Patent, is also directed to solving the problem of balancing byte-size reduction with perceptual quality preservation in video optimization (Compl. ¶55). It describes a single-pass technique that uses a function to define a delta QP based on an input QP, allowing for fine control of quality degradation in the re-encoded content (Compl. ¶57).
  • Asserted Claims: At least claim 1 (Compl. ¶201).
  • Accused Features: The complaint accuses the same H.265 video encoding products as for the ’388 Patent (Compl. ¶182). The alleged infringing functionality involves unpacking a video frame, extracting a first QP, calculating a delta QP, acquiring a subsequent QP based on the delta QP and an inflation factor, and recompressing the frame using the subsequent QP (Compl. ¶186, 189, 191, 194, 196).

U.S. Patent No. 9,936,040, "Systems and Methods of Partial Video Caching," Issued April 3, 2018

  • Technology Synopsis: This patent addresses high network congestion caused by delivering large content files, particularly over wireless networks (Compl. ¶63). The invention teaches a cache server that stores segments of data from user requests, generating keys for efficient retrieval. By caching only parts of media data likely to be requested again, the system aims to reduce data transmissions from the content server (Compl. ¶65).
  • Asserted Claims: At least claim 14 (Compl. ¶223).
  • Accused Features: The complaint accuses Akamai’s Content Delivery Network products, including Akamai Object Delivery (Compl. ¶209). The accused features include generating a unique cache key for each slice of content, appending slice range information to the key, and generating a "first set entry" with a "first set key" for segments associated with a request (Compl. ¶212-214).

U.S. Patent No. 9,167,021, "Measuring Web Browsing Quality of Experience in Real-Time at An Intermediate Network Node," Issued October 20, 2015

  • Technology Synopsis: The patent is directed to the problem of accurately measuring the download time of a complete web page at an intermediate network node, which is complicated when content is distributed across multiple servers (Compl. ¶71-72). The solution is a method that acquires current HTTP transactions, determines if they relate to a specific client's web browsing, evaluates if they belong with a previous set of transactions, and computes a "page unit time" to measure Quality of Experience (Compl. ¶73).
  • Asserted Claims: At least claim 1 (Compl. ¶247).
  • Accused Features: The accused product is Akamai mPulse (Compl. ¶231). The alleged infringing functionality involves using a JavaScript snippet to capture HTTP transactions, determining if they are associated with web browsing by examining parameters like "Beacon Type" and "HTTP initiator," retrieving a historical set of transactions for a client, and delineating a "page unit" to calculate performance metrics (Compl. ¶233, 234, 236, 242).

III. The Accused Instrumentality

Product Identification

The complaint accuses a wide range of Akamai products and services. For the ’273 Patent, the accused instrumentality is the Akamai Content Delivery Platform and other products using TCP-BBR congestion control (Compl. ¶79). For the ’559 Patent, the accused products include Akamai Direct Connect and services like Akamai Adaptive Media Delivery and Akamai Cloud Wrapper (Compl. ¶105).

Functionality and Market Context

The accused products form the core of Akamai's content delivery network, which is designed to accelerate and manage the delivery of web content, video, and applications to end-users globally. The complaint alleges that the TCP-BBR congestion control algorithm, used in the Akamai '273 Products, measures round trip times (RTT) and paces data transmissions to match bottleneck bandwidth, thereby avoiding network-induced delays (Compl. ¶84-85). A provided graph shows the accused products' throughput, illustrating an initial aggressive bandwidth probe followed by a steady state of even spacing to avoid buffer overload (Compl. p. 26). The Akamai '559 Products, such as Direct Connect, are alleged to provide a primary, secure communication path and an alternate path (e.g., public internet) for failover if the primary link becomes unavailable (Compl. ¶113, 116).

IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations

7,099,273 Infringement Allegations

| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 1) | Alleged Infringing Functionality | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
|:-------------------------------------------|:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| establishing a connection between the sender and the receiver | The Akamai products establish a data connection using a TCP handshake process (SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK). | ¶81-83 | col. 3:3-5 |
| measuring round trip times of data packets sent from the sender to the receiver | The Akamai products' TCP-BBR congestion control measures round trip times (RTT) of data packets by timestamping a transmitted packet and subtracting the original timestamp from the time an acknowledgement (ACK) is received. | ¶84, 88 | col. 4:40-42 |
| determining a congestion window parameter that specifies a maximum number of unacknowledged data packets that may be sent to the receiver | The Akamai products calculate a congestion window (cwnd) parameter based on estimated bottleneck bandwidth and RTT to define the maximum quantity of unacknowledged data packets permitted. | ¶92, 94 | col. 4:42-45 |
| transmitting additional data packets to the receiver in response to expiration of a transmit timer, the period of the transmit timer based on the round trip time measurements and the congestion window parameter | The Akamai products employ a transmit timer whose period is dynamically calculated using RTT measurements and the cwnd parameter, triggering the sending of additional packets upon expiration. This is also described as "round-trip time-based pacing." | ¶91, 96 | col. 4:45-49 |

  • Identified Points of Contention:
    • Scope Questions: A central dispute may arise over the meaning of "transmit timer" and its "expiration." The complaint alleges that TCP-BBR's "pacing" functionality meets this limitation (Compl. ¶91, 93). The court will have to determine whether a system that continuously paces data transmission based on network parameter estimates is equivalent to a system that transmits data upon the discrete "expiration" of a timer whose "period" is based on those same parameters.
    • Technical Questions: What evidence does the complaint provide that the accused TCP-BBR system uses a "transmit timer" that "expires," as opposed to a continuous pacing-rate calculation? The complaint alleges the existence of a timer and its expiration (Compl. ¶96) but the supporting technical descriptions focus on "pacing" (Compl. ¶85, 91, 93), raising a question of operational equivalence.

7,616,559 Infringement Allegations

| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 5) | Alleged Infringing Functionality | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
|:-------------------------------------------|:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| detecting a first communications link having a first security feature for communicating information between a client device and a server device | The Akamai Direct Connect products detect a first, primary communications link that uses security features such as Autonomous System Number (ASN) identification and prefix filtering for routing. | ¶108 | col. 4:50-54 |
| detecting a second communications link having a second security feature for communicating information between the client device and the server device | The Akamai products detect a second communications link, such as public internet transit, which can be used for failover traffic and has its own security features. A provided diagram illustrates this dual-path architecture (Compl. p. 34). | ¶111-112 | col. 4:55-58 |
| selecting the first communications link for communicating the information... | The Akamai products select and prioritize the first communications link (Direct Connect), which has higher security, for data transmission. | ¶114 | col. 5:1-3 |
| if the first communications link is not available, selecting the second communications link for communicating the information... | If the first (primary) link is unavailable, the Akamai products switch to the second link to ensure continuous communication. | ¶116 | col. 5:4-7 |
| if communications are hindered over the second communications link, reconnecting to the first communications link... | The Akamai products contain functionality for restoring the connection to the initial communication link if data transmission is interrupted over the alternate pathway. | ¶117, 120 | col. 5:11-14 |

  • Identified Points of Contention:
    • Scope Questions: The definition of "security feature" will be critical. The complaint identifies standard BGP routing policies like prefix limits as meeting this limitation (Compl. ¶108, p. 33). A key question for the court will be whether such routing configurations fall within the patent's intended scope for "security feature," or if the term requires functionalities more traditionally associated with security, such as encryption or authentication.
    • Technical Questions: Does the accused failover to "public transit" constitute a distinct "second communications link" with its own "second security feature" as required by the claim, or is it merely a different routing path over the same general internet infrastructure?

V. Key Claim Terms for Construction

  • For the ’273 Patent:

    • The Term: "transmit timer" / "expiration of a transmit timer"
    • Context and Importance: This term is the central mechanism of the asserted claim. The infringement theory equates Akamai's TCP-BBR "pacing" with the claimed "transmit timer." Practitioners may focus on this term because the accused products use a modern congestion control algorithm (BBR) that may not employ a discrete, expiring timer in the manner described in the patent's embodiments, creating a potential mismatch.
    • Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
      • Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The patent abstract states the timer's period "may be periodically adjusted based on a ratio of the smoothed round-trip time and the smoothed congestion window," which could support construing any mechanism that dynamically controls transmission intervals based on this ratio as a "transmit timer." (’273 Patent, Abstract).
      • Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: Claim 1 requires transmitting packets "in response to expiration of a transmit timer." The use of "expiration" suggests a discrete event. The state diagram in Figure 4 shows a transition from a "Slow Start" state based on a "Timer" event (408), which may support an interpretation requiring a distinct timer that is set and then expires. (’273 Patent, Fig. 4).

  • For the ’559 Patent:

    • The Term: "security feature"
    • Context and Importance: The infringement case for this patent hinges on whether Akamai's routing policies for its Direct Connect product qualify as a "security feature." The construction of this term will determine if the primary link, as alleged, meets this claim limitation.
    • Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
      • Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The patent does not appear to provide an explicit, narrow definition of the term. The abstract refers broadly to "Including Security," which could encompass any feature that enhances the integrity or control of a communication link, including routing policies. (’559 Patent, Abstract).
      • Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The detailed description may link the concept of security to specific functions like encryption or authentication. If the specification consistently discusses security in terms of data confidentiality or integrity, it could support a narrower construction that excludes general routing policies. The complaint itself references "encryption standards and/or authentication technology" as security features used by the accused products, though not directly in the context of the primary infringement allegation (Compl. ¶112).

VI. Other Allegations

  • Indirect Infringement: The complaint alleges that Akamai induces infringement of the ’559 Patent (and others) by providing products with the capability to operate in an infringing manner and by providing "documentation and training materials that cause customers and end users...to utilize the products" in that manner (Compl. ¶128, 148, 175, 202, 224, 248).
  • Willful Infringement: The prayer for relief alleges willful infringement for the ’559, ’167, ’388, ’361, ’040, and ’021 patents (Compl. p. 75). For the ’559 Patent, knowledge is alleged from the date of service of the original complaint, suggesting a basis in post-suit conduct (Compl. ¶127). For the ’167 Patent, the complaint alleges pre-suit knowledge based on Akamai's ownership of a U.S. patent and patent application that cite the ’167 Patent as prior art (Compl. ¶150).

VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case

  • A core issue will be one of technical equivalence: Does the continuous, rate-based "pacing" of Akamai's TCP-BBR algorithm function in a substantially similar way to the claimed method of transmitting data upon the discrete "expiration of a transmit timer," or is there a fundamental operational difference that places the accused system outside the scope of the ’273 Patent?
  • A second central issue will be one of definitional scope: Can standard network routing configurations, such as the BGP policies alleged for Akamai Direct Connect, be construed as the "security feature" required by the claims of the ’559 Patent, or does the patent's context demand more traditional security mechanisms like encryption?
  • For the broader set of asserted patents, a key evidentiary question will involve mapping the specific, multi-step limitations of the method claims related to content adaptation and video optimization onto the actual, documented operation of Akamai's complex software platforms.