Yahoo have made good on their recent threat to instigate legal procedures against Facebook, allegedly for infringing ten of Yahoo’s patents. Yahoo is claiming that “Facebook’s entire social network model…is based on Yahoo’s patented social networking technology”, according to the court documents filed in California yesterday.
Yahoo’s claim goes on to say, “Yahoo is harmed by Facebook’s use of Yahoo’s patented technologies in a a way that cannot be compensated for by payment of a royalty alone. Facebook’s use of Yahoo’s patented technologies has increased Facebook’s revenue and market share because it does not have to recover the costs or time involved in the development of the technology. Yahoo, in turn, must bear the costs of the development of the technology.”
A Facebook spokesperson said in a statement, “We’re disappointed that Yahoo, a longtime business partner of Facebook and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with Facebook, has decided to resort to litigation. Once again, we learned of Yahoo’s decision simultaneously with the media. We will defend ourselves vigorously against these puzzling actions.”
Source: CNET