Facebook countersues Yahoo over 10 patents
Update: Here are the 10 patents Facebook is suing Yahoo with
As expected, Facebook today filed its own patent infringement lawsuit against Yahoo. The social networking giant is claiming the online giant infringes on 10 of its patents.
This is a countersuit and will likely lead to some sort of settlement between the two parties. Facebook says Yahoo is infringing on a wide range of its services, including its homepage, content optimization, relevance engine, Flickr photo-sharing service, and advertising throughout the service.
"From the outset, we said we would defend ourselves vigorously against Yahoo's lawsuit, and today we filed our answer as well as counter-claims against Yahoo for infringing ten of Facebook’s patents," Ted Ullyot, General Counsel of Facebook, told AllThingsD. "While we are asserting patent claims of our own, we do so in response to Yahoo’s short-sighted decision to attack one of its partners and prioritize litigation over innovation."
Two months ago, Yahoo threatened Facebook with patent war. Last month, the online giant sued the social networking giant over 10 patents and the technology industry made sure to criticize Yahoo like never before.
Some said Facebook should just buy Yahoo. Others argued Microsoft should come to Facebook's rescue. A recent rumor, however, pointed to Facebook fighting back by itself, and that appears to be exactly what the social networking giant is doing.
When Facebook amended its IPO filing the second time last month, the company briefly mentioned its potential legal battle with Yahoo. This was soon after Menlo Park received a letter from Sunnyvale, but still before Yahoo's lawsuit was filed. Last week, Facebook amended its IPO filing a third time, adding information about Yahoo's lawsuit. Today I can safely say: "Here comes amendment number four!"
Yahoo has thousands of patents while Facebook has 62, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Those are the ones that have been filed in each of the companies' names; both firms have more patents each, but either way Yahoo has significantly more than Facebook.
Facebook has been bulking its patent portfolio, but the biggest purchase came after Yahoo filed its lawsuit. By my last count, the company has 812 patents. This includes 750 patents purchased from IBM, some of which Yahoo is rumored to have been licensing from IBM.
Update: Here are the 10 patents Facebook is suing Yahoo with
See also:
- How many patents does Facebook own?
- Mitel sues Facebook over two patents
- Facebook to counter sue Yahoo (rumor)
- Yahoo sues Facebook over 10 patents
- Yahoo threatens Facebook with patent war
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