10:30
The lawsuit, filed in a San Jose, California federal cloister on Monday, marks a above accretion of apparent action that has already swept up the smartphone and book sectors and high-tech stalwarts such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.
Yahoo's apparent accusation follows Facebook's advertisement of affairs for an antecedent accessible alms that could amount the aggregation at about $100 billion.
Facebook agent Jonathan Thaw said Facebook abstruse of the accusation through the media.
"We're aghast that Yahoo, a longtime business accomplice of Facebook and a aggregation that has essentially benefited from its affiliation with Facebook, has absitively to resort to litigation," he said.
In an emailed statement, Yahoo said it is assured it will prevail.
"Unfortunately, the amount with Facebook charcoal changing and we are accountable to seek redress in federal court," the aggregation said in a statement.
Yahoo, one of the Web's beat companies, has apparent its revenues abatement in contempo years at a time back rivals such as Facebook and Google accept thrived. In January, Yahoo appointed above PayPal President Scott Thompson as its new arch executive, replacing Carol Bartz, who was accursed in September.
Yahoo said backward aftermost ages it was gluttonous licensing fees from Facebook over its patents and that added companies accept already agreed to such licensing deals.
IPO COMPANIES VULNERABLE
Colleen Chien, a assistant at Santa Clara Law in Silicon Valley, said companies are usually added accessible to apparent apparel back they are in the IPO process.
"As a accepted proposition, back a aggregation is about to go public, the aftermost affair it needs is to get complex in a knock-down, annoyance out action fight," Chien said.
"So that ability accomplish Facebook added accommodating to boldness its differences with Yahoo."
Yahoo has acclimated agnate timing to its advantage in the past. Google agreed to affair shares to Yahoo nine canicule afore Google went accessible in 2004 in barter for a authorization to Yahoo's patents. Google after took a $201 actor non-cash allegation accompanying to the transaction.
In chief to sue Facebook, Yahoo has retained the aforementioned law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, acclimated by Google and added manufacturers in abounding Android-related smartphone apparent cases. Google is a amateur in amusing media with its Google+ service.
Quinn Emanuel additionally counts amusing gaming account Zynga Inc as a client, according to the law firm's website.
Yahoo has not said whether it will accompany apparent claims adjoin added amusing networking companies and a Google agent beneath to animadversion on Quinn Emanuel's involvement. Zynga additionally beneath to comment.
In the lawsuit, Yahoo says Facebook was advised "one of the affliction assuming sites for advertising" above-mentioned to adapting Yahoo's ideas.
"Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's architect and CEO, has conceded that the architecture of Facebook is not atypical and is based on the account of others," the accusation said.
ONLINE ADVERTISING
Only two of the 10 patents at affair are anon accompanying to amusing networking technology. Best focus on online advertising, including methods for preventing "click fraud," as able-bodied as aloofness and technology for customizing the advice users see on a Web page.
"If what Yahoo is adage is actually true, again it seems like a lot of companies would be liable," said Shubha Ghosh, a assistant who specializes in bookish acreage at The University of Wisconsin Law School. But he added, abundant would depend on whether a adjudicator defines the patents broadly or narrowly.
Several amusing networking companies, including Facebook, accept apparent an uptick in apparent claims asserted adjoin them as they move through the IPO process.
However, best of those lawsuits accept been filed by apparent aggregators that buy up bookish acreage to clasp amount from it via licensing deals and none by a ample tech aggregation such as Yahoo.
The accusation is a change for Yahoo because the aggregation has never accomplished abhorrent apparent action adjoin such a ample about traded company, according to a look of federal cloister dockets on acknowledged database Westlaw, a Thomson Reuters unit.
A archetypal aegis for companies targeted with apparent claims is to abuse a countersuit application its own patents. But Yahoo possesses far added patents than Facebook. According to a U.S. government database, Yahoo has over 3,300 patents and appear apparent applications, while Facebook has 160.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Yahoo Inc. v. Facebook Inc., 12-cv-1212.
Post a Comment