Yahoo Facebook war

YAHOO invented Facebook. That’s what Yahoo is claiming in a patent infringement lawsuit filed in California on Monday.  “Facebook’s entire social network model,” the lawsuit says, “is based on Yahoo!’s patented social networking technology.”

In response, Facebook claimed that it was “disappointed” with Yahoo! and its legal action it has taken. It said Yahoo! has “substantially benefited from its association with Facebook,” according to the news agency.

Reuters also reported that Yahoo Inc sued Facebook over 10 patents, which include systems for web advertising. It has opened up a first major legal battle amongst companies within the social media world.

Facebook spokesman Jonathan Thaw said Facebook learned of the lawsuit through the media.

“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,” he said.

In an emailed statement, Yahoo said it is confident it will prevail. “Unfortunately, the matter with Facebook remains unresolved and we are compelled to seek redress in federal court,” the company said in a statement.

One thing to note here is that some of the patents are incredibly vague.

One patent describes a technique for notifying other members of “changes within the social network.” Even the guy who co-invented this technology for Yahoo, Andy Baio, thinks that his former company is going too far. In a piece for Wired, he notes, “[this patent] is so abstract, it could not only cover Facebook’s News Feed, but virtually any activity feed.”

According to cnet.com: “Paul Graham, the Y Combinator co-founder who sold his company, Viaweb, to Yahoo in 1998 for about $49 million, was blunt in his criticism. “This was a clumsy move that will blow up in Yahoo’s face,” he said in an e-mail. “The biggest priorities for any tech company right now is hiring, and this is going to make it impossible for them to hire good people.”