Yahoo to sue Facebook ahead of IPO

Hayley Tsukayama
Washington Post
March 12, 2012

Yahoo has reportedly filed a patent suit against Facebook, saying that the social network is infringing on technologies that are the “foundation of our business.”

It had been previously reported that Yahoo had demanded that Facebook pay licensing fees for at least 10 patents, and had threatened the IPO-bound social network with legal action if they could not come to a settlement. According to the court filing, the patents deal with technologies for advertising, privacy, social networking, messaging and allowing users to customize their Web experience.

In a statement, Yahoo said that it 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.”

In a statement, Facebook said, “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.”

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This article was posted: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 12:09 pm

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