YAHOO HAS demanded licensing fees from Facebook for use of its technology, potentially engulfing social media in the patent battles and lawsuits raging across much of the tech sector.
Yahoo has asserted claims on patents that include the technical mechanisms in Facebook’s ads, privacy controls, news feed and messaging service, according to a source briefed on the matter.
Representatives from the two companies met on Monday and the talks involved 10 to 20 of Yahoo’s patents, said the source, who was not aware of what specific dollar demands Yahoo may have made for licences. Yahoo did not elaborate in an emailed statement on details of its discussions with Facebook, but indicated it would not flinch at taking the social networking giant to court over its patents.
Yahoo said other companies have already licensed some of the technologies at issue, and that it would act unilaterally if Facebook refused to pay for a patent licence.
Should Yahoo wind up suing Facebook, it would mark the first major legal battle among technology giants in the social media sphere and a major escalation of patent litigation. – (Reuters)
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