Use of Invention

CENTILLION DATA SYSTEMS V. QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL

• We hold that to “use” a system for purposes of infringement, a party must put the invention into service, i.e., control the system as a whole and obtain benefit from it.
• We agree that direct infringement by “use” of a system claim “requires a party . . . to use each and every . . . element of a claimed [system].” In order to “put the system into service,” the end user must be using all portions of the claimed invention.
• By causing the system as a whole to perform this processing and obtaining the benefit of the result, the customer has “used” the system under § 271(a). It makes no difference that the back-end processing is physically possessed by [another party].