Facebook Lawsuit Accuses Yahoo of Patent Infringement
Facebook has, in response to Yahoo’s lawsuit alleging 10 patent violations, filed lawsuits against Yahoo claiming that the company violated patents which accounted for over $4 billion in revenue for the social network giant last year.
According to the counterclaim Facebook filed in federal district court, Yahoo has allegedly infringed upon patents pertaining to Facebook’s content personalization, image sharing, and display advertising. In response to Facebook’s lawsuit, a representative from Yahoo issued a statement which read:
“We have only just received Facebook’s answer and counterclaims, but on their face we believe they are without merit and nothing more than a cynical attempt to distract from the weakness of its defense.”
The initial lawsuit filed by Yahoo came roughly two months after Scott Thompson joined the ranks of Yahoo as chief executive and right before Facebook intends on going public. Before Google went public, Yahoo executed a similar legal maneuver in which they sued Google over patent infringements.
Lou Kerner, head of investment firm Social Internet Fund, was quoted saying:
“This was the action of a desperate man. Facebook has a significant and valuable patent portfolio. They were very savvy about getting as many patents as they could.”
Ted Ullyot of Facebook’s general counsel released a statement in which he said:
“From the outset, we said we could defend ourselves vigorously against Yahoo’s lawsuit. While we are asserting patents claims of our own, we do so in response to Yahoo’s short-sighted decision to attack one of its partners and prioritize litigation over innovation.”
Of the patents cited in Facebook’s filing, only two of the patents were invented by employees of the social network giant, while the rest were apparently acquired through purchase.
Facebook is demanding that the federal district court rules Yahoo’s patents invalid. Additionally, Facebook demands compensation from Yahoo for damages and legal fees pertaining to the patent lawsuit.
