Yahoo sues Facebook over patent infringement, Facebook calls it 'puzzling'
| NEW YORK
Yahoo聽is suing聽Facebook聽over patents, just weeks before the social-networking heavyweight is due to cash in with its initial public offering of stock.
Yahoo聽Inc. said in a court filing Monday that聽Facebook聽has infringed 10 of its patents covering advertising, privacy controls and social networking.聽Yahoo聽had threatened to sue聽Facebook聽last month, insisting that the social network license its patents.
Facebook聽vowed to defend itself vigorously against what it called "puzzling actions" by聽Yahoo.
"We're disappointed that聽Yahoo, a longtime business partner of聽Facebook聽and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with聽Facebook, has decided to resort to litigation,"聽Facebook聽said in a statement.聽Yahoo聽ties a lot of its online services to聽Facebook, which has helped it attract users.
As with many patent suits, this one will likely be resolved in a settlement or licensing deal. That said, the patent claims could cast a spotlight on聽Facebook's聽vulnerabilities as the company tries to complete an IPO this spring. At the end of 2011,聽Facebook聽had just 56 U.S. patents, a relatively small number compared with other big tech companies.聽Yahoo聽owns more than 1,000 patents.
That trove of patents may come in handy for聽Yahoo, which has seen its revenue fall steadily over the past three years. But it could also cast the company as desperate, trying to extract money from soon-to-be-publicFacebook.
Yahoo聽made hundreds of millions of dollars from a patent settlement that it reached with Google Inc. just before the Internet search leader went public in 2004.聽Facebook's聽IPO is expected to dwarf Google's, valuing the Menlo Park, California-based social network at as much as $100 billion.
Yahoo聽defended its lawsuit, saying it has invested "substantial resources in research and development" over the years leading to technology patents that other companies have licensed. Its lawsuit says that withoutYahoo's聽innovations,聽Facebook聽and other websites would not enjoy "repeat visitors or substantial advertising revenue."
Among other claims, the lawsuit says that聽Yahoo's聽patents cover basic social networking ideas such as customizing website users' experiences to their needs and interests. And it says that聽Yahoo's聽advertising patents cover ways of generating ads that relate to individual users, increasing revenue for website operators.
Sunnyvale, California-based聽Yahoo聽filed the lawsuit Monday in federal court in San Jose, California. It is asking for unspecified damages and a jury trial.
