Yahoo sues Facebook for patent infringement
Just weeks before the IPO of the social network Facebook, the Internet company Yahoo has carried out its threat and sued Facebook for patent infringement. Yahoo accuses Facebook of large-scale idea theft.
Without a license agreement, Facebook has used ten patented technologies related to advertising, privacy control and social networking, according to the lawsuit. It was filed Monday in San Jose, California. "Many of the technologies on which Facebook relies were first developed by Yahoo," Yahoo's lawyers wrote. For years, however, Facebook had been "operating in the black." Last month, Yahoo had already threatened Facebook with a lawsuit if no settlement was reached. Initially, it remained unclear what amount Yahoo was demanding from the social network.
The lawsuit comes at an inopportune time for the social network. Facebook is in the midst of preparations for its multibillion-dollar IPO, expected in the summer. A lawsuit of such magnitude could unsettle investors. Yahoo knows that, too, and thus has an advantage in possible settlement negotiations.
Facebook is disappointed
Facebook said it was disappointed with Yahoo. "We will defend ourselves with all means against these puzzling actions," a spokeswoman explained. Most likely, this patent dispute, like so many before it, will end with an out-of-court settlement or the signing of a licensing agreement. However, it highlights a sore point for Facebook. At the end of 2011, only 56 patents were registered on the social network. Compared to other large technology companies, a very low number. Yahoo owns more than 1,000 patents.
Yahoo defended the decision to file suit. The company had spent "substantial resources in research and development" over the years, resulting in patents for which other companies pay royalties.
Bring back the old shine
Without Yahoo's technologies, Facebook and other websites would have fewer visitors and less advertising revenue, the lawsuit says. Yahoo claims to have invented a whole range of basic social networking functions, such as sending messages, displaying news or commenting.
The two Internet groups are competitors in the business of advertising on the Internet. However, Facebook has grown much faster in recent years and most recently had 845 million users. By contrast, Yahoo's star dropped, and with it its revenues. According to its own figures, it last had 700 million users. Yahoo, whose roots go back to 1994, is ten years older than Facebook and was one of the most important companies in the pioneering days of the Internet. The company's CEO Scott Thompson, who only took office at the beginning of the year, is supposed to restore the company to its former glory and seems to be taking a radical course in doing so. The threat of a patent lawsuit was one of the first actions during his tenure. Thompson had already cleaned up internally and replaced numerous top managers. (SDA/DAPD/RTD/DPA)
(Image: Keystone)
