Defendant
1 case as defendant.
Sandpiper Cdn LLC is a privately held Delaware limited liability company, formed on March 21, 2024, with its principal place of business in Wilmington, Delaware. It operates as a successor to Sandpiper Networks, a company founded in 1996 that pioneered the world's first commercial Content Delivery Network (CDN). Sandpiper Cdn LLC is a subsidiary of Theseus LF Asset Holdings, LLC, which has no publicly held parent. Andrew Swart, a co-founder and former CEO of Sandpiper Networks, is a co-owner of Sandpiper Cdn LLC.
The company's primary operation involves managing and licensing an extensive patent portfolio related to CDN technology and software. This portfolio, comprising over 400 patent assets covering various aspects of CDNs, including caching methods and network address resolution, was acquired from Level 3 Communications (part of Lumen Technologies) in March 2024. Sandpiper Cdn LLC itself does not operate a content delivery network but rather focuses on intellectual property.
Sandpiper Cdn LLC exhibits the characteristics of a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) or Patent Assertion Entity, primarily asserting its acquired patent portfolio. The company's patent litigation posture is active, with one plaintiff case tracked in the California Central District Court. This case, filed in May 2024, is against Google LLC, alleging infringement of six CDN-related patents. Sandpiper Cdn LLC has also initiated patent infringement lawsuits against Comcast in the Eastern District of Texas and Microsoft Corporation, also in the Eastern District of Texas. Conversely, it appears as a defendant in one tracked case before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), specifically a challenge from Google LLC (filed May 2025), indicating active defense of its patents against invalidation efforts. Microsoft has also filed a PTAB challenge against one of Sandpiper's patents.
Notable context includes the historical significance of the original Sandpiper Networks in developing foundational CDN technology, which was later utilized by major streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney via Level 3's infrastructure. The patents asserted by Sandpiper Cdn LLC trace back to this pioneering work. The acquisition of these patents from Level 3 Communications in 2024 marks the formal beginning of Sandpiper Cdn LLC's patent assertion activities.
An Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceeding initiated by Google LLC challenging US patent 10057322, owned by Sandpiper Cdn LLC, which was filed on May 23, 2025, and is currently instituted and pending before the PTAB.