A person can be liable for patent infringement when he or she
makes a product that includes all the features found in the
patent's claim or claims. Similarly, a person is infringing a
patent when he or she carries out all the steps found in a patent
claim for a process. But what if a person only performs half the
steps found in a process claim, and induces another party to do the
rest? Who, if anyone, is to blame when there are many parties
involved in infringing on a patented process? Traditionally, United
States courts have required that a single party carry out all steps
before there can be liability for patent infringement. But there
may soon be new answers to these questions.
If you have streamed video online,
or even visited a popular website, it's likely that a Content
Delivery Network (CDN) was used to help provide a smooth streaming
experience. CDNs are inherently distributed systems: they involve
many replicated nodes at diverse locations, and typically
