This article was published on March 12, 2012

Facebook says Yahoo’s patent licensing efforts limited to a ‘few short phone calls’ before lawsuit


Facebook says Yahoo’s patent licensing efforts limited to a ‘few short phone calls’ before lawsuit

Internet giant Yahoo has sued Facebook for infringing on some of its internet technology patents, reports Kara Swisher at All Things D. There are few details as of yet, but Swisher posts this statement from Yahoo about the suit, which involves 10 or more patents.

Yahoo! has invested substantial resources in research and development through the years, which has resulted in numerous patented inventions of technology that other companies have licensed. These technologies are the foundation of our business that engages over 700 million monthly unique visitors and represent the spirit of innovation upon which Yahoo! is built. Unfortunately, the matter with Facebook remains unresolved and we are compelled to seek redress in federal court. We are confident that we will prevail.

Earlier this year, Yahoo warned Facebook that it would seek legal action if it did not license between 10 and 20 patents on technologies related to advertising, personalized web pages, social networking and messaging. At that time, Yahoo said “we must insist that Facebook either enter into a licensing agreement or we will be compelled to move forward unilaterally to protect our rights.”

Facebook has issued a statement about the matter to The Next Web:

We’re disappointed that Yahoo’s effort to engage with us was limited to a few short phone calls and that we continue to learn of new developments about a long-time partner through the press. We will defend ourselves vigorously against these puzzling actions.

Here is the court document, filed in the Northern California District Court, located in San Jose:


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