Popular social image and text sharing website Pinterest is being sued. The lawsuit was filed by Theodore Schroeder and two of his colleagues, the founders of failed social sharing websites Rendezvoo and Skoopwire. According to Schroeder, Pinterest founder Brian Cohen misappropriated ideas he received while working with the Rendezvoo and Skoopwire team. Pinterest says “the lawsuit against Pinterest is baseless.”
Shroeder’s attorney Richard Scheff of Montgomery McCracken says of the filing:
“The bottom line is that it’s illegal to steal an idea for your own benefit without regard to the originator of that idea. Here, Mr. Cohen joined an existing enterprise in which Mr Schroeder had a majority interest, and then took without permission or right Mr. Schroeder’s ideas, concepts, web application and technology.”
Brian Cohen worked with the failed social websites in 2007 and 2008 and Schroeder says work with the sites at that time ultimately generated many of the ideas behind Pinterest. According to the site founder the idea behind Rendezvoo was to:
“Connect things that mattered to a user with other users.”
In his lawsuit the failed social media design says his websites would include common internet elements such as images, hyperlinks, and text descriptions of interesting subjects.”
The lawsuit calls Pinterest an exact match of the company’s concept. It should be noted that Pinterest is not even close to the first company to work any of the ideas listed in the complaint into its design.
The company also says other features of Pinterest were stolen, including “infinite scroll.”
Rendezvoo’s founder also says that Pinterests attempts to use pink and purple colors to lure women is enough reason to sue the company.
Here is the full lawsuit posting:
