Omnitek Partners LLC and JG Technologies LLC were not the only plaintiffs to recently add to the marked jump in litigation in the Automotive market sector seen in 2020 and recently reported by RPX. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (as patent owner) and Ethanol Boosting Systems, LLC (EBS) (as exclusive licensee) filed another suit against Ford (1:20-cv-00706) over two fuel management system patents new to litigation. The complaint follows the plaintiffs’ appeal of a claim construction order handed down in January 2020 by District of Delaware Judge Colm F. Connolly that brought the prior suit between these parties to an end, through a stipulated judgment of noninfringement.

Together, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (as patent owner) and Ethanol Boosting Systems, LLC (EBS) (as exclusive licensee) have sued Ford (1:19-cv-00196), accusing the automaker of infringing four patents from a family of over two dozen, the asserted patents generally related to fuel management systems involving both port and direct fuel injection. After recounting a lengthy history of alleged communications with Ford over its patented technology, the plaintiffs accuse Ford of infringement through the provision of certain engines and fuel management systems, including its 2.7L EcoBoost, 3.5L EcoBoost, High Output 3.5L EcoBoost, 3.3L Ti-VCT, and 5.0L Ti-VCT V8 engines and fuel management systems.

On August 13, 2015, the full Federal Circuit issued a decision in the long-running Akamai v. Limelight case, reversing the district court’s judgment of non-infringement as a matter of law, which held that Limelight could not be found liable as a joint direct infringer of Akamai’s method claims (2009-1372). The Federal Circuit revisited the contractual relationship that Limelight establishes with its customers, holding that sufficient evidence supports a finding that Limelight “directs or controls” its customers, and thus, Limelight can be held liable as a joint direct infringer.