Mirror Image Internet sues Speedera Networks for patent infringement

Mirror Image Internet, a provider of online content delivery services, has filed a federal lawsuit against Speedera Networks, charging it with infringing on two patents on content delivery technology, Mirror Image announced yesterday.

It filed the suit several months ago but didn’t make it publicly known until this week after it had received inquiries about the suit from analysts and journalists, the company says. "The suit is a matter of public record and we have had inquiries about it from the press and it has come up in conversations with analysts,” a spokesman says. “We were uncomfortable having no public statement on the matter. We want our technology leadership known in the market and the fact that we are enforcing our patent rights known in the market."

Mirror Image, a unit of Cayman Islands-based Xcelera Inc., contends in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware that Speedera has infringed on one patent related to “the use of a collaborative server system and methods for efficient allocation of delivery of content from multiple servers, enabled by use of embedded object references in web pages.” It claims that Speedera also has infringed on a second patent related to “methods of using alternative addresses in distributed delivery of content to end-users, particularly in intercepting requests for content and automatically serving requested content from alternative servers.” Mirror Image originally filed the suit last fall and then amended and re-filed it in January. The suit is scheduled for a trial in July 2005.

Speedera denies any wrongdoing. “We believe the suit is without merit and will vigorously defend ourselves in court,” says vice president of marketing Gordon Smith.

Mirror Image COO Richard Buck contends that the company’s patents are a core part of its services to customers. "By enforcing our patents, Mirror Image stands confidently behind the innovative solutions we offer leading retailers, advertisers, media and software companies," he says.