Yahoo on Thursday announced some good news coming from its legal department. The Superior Court of Justice for the Federal District in Mexico granted the company’s appeal and reversed the ruling of the 49th Civil Court of Mexico, which had ordered Yahoo and Yahoo Mexico to pay $2.75 billion.
The court agreed to overturn all monetary awards against Yahoo and reduced the monetary award against Yahoo Mexico to $172,500. In the original judgment, Yahoo Mexico was awarded $2.6 million.
The non-final judgement was made in favor of Worldwide Directories, a holding company of Ideas Interactivas, against Yahoo in Mexico with regards to yellow pages listings. Ideas Interactivas is the publisher of Yahoo! Páginas Útiles, a printed and online phone book for Mexico with business listings, similar to the yellow pages.
It’s still unclear what went wrong between the two companies, but we do know one thing: it’s been over nine years since the original deal was struck. It’s therefore certainly possible a breach of contract occurred as a lot can change in a decade.
Nevertheless, the amount that a company must pay over such an issue is clearly in dispute. Yahoo may be a big firm, but it didn’t’ even make $2 billion last quarter.
In November 2012, Yahoo was ordered to pay the $2.75 billion sum in a contract dispute by the 49th Civil Court of Mexico City. At the time, Yahoo issued the following statement about the ruling: “Yahoo! believes the plaintiffs’ claims are without merit and will vigorously pursue all appeals. The plaintiffs alleged claims of breach of contract, breach of promise, and lost profits arising from contracts related to a yellow pages listings service.”
On December 12, 2012, Yahoo Mexico appealed the judgment and the next day Yahoo did the same. While Yahoo has won this round, this lawsuit is far from over. The plaintiffs can still appeal the decision, drawing out the battle for even longer into the year.
Top Image Credit: Yahoo! Blog
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