The move could usher in a new era of patent fights in the realm of social media.
The internet company briefed the New York Times Monday, in advance of a meeting between representatives of the two companies. Facebook said it hasn’t had enough time to review the claims and could not comment.
A Yahoo! spokesperson told Managing IP she could not pass on the numbers of the patents at issue, but a search of the USPTO database turned up some of the possible candidates. Yahoo! said there are 10 to 20 patents being asserted.
The company also sent the following emailed statement to Managing IP: “Yahoo! has a responsibility to its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders to protect its intellectual property. We have invested substantial resources into these innovations. Recognizing that, other major web and technology companies have already licensed some of these technologies. We must insist that Facebook either enter into a licensing agreement or we will be compelled to move forward unilaterally to protect our rights.”
Yahoo! is the assignee on 1,020 patents in the USPTO patent database. Here are some that include the terms the company has indicated the asserted patents cover.
Patents geared to advertising
8,108,257 Delayed advertisement insertion in videos
Patents geared to website personalisation
Patents geared to messaging