Mediaboss Marketing

By now you've heard that Yahoo has sued Facebook, alleging patent infringement. But just which pieces of intellectual property is Yahoo claiming Facebook ripped off?

Surely, you'd say, Yahoo doesn't claim that it invented the entire social networking model Facebook is based uponexcept it turns out that is almost exactly what Yahoo is claiming.

"Facebook's entire social network model, which allows users to create profiles for and connect with, among other things, persons and businesses, is based on Yahoo!'s patented social networking technology," Yahoo claims in the lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in Northern California. "Prior to adopting Yahoo!'s patented social networking technology in 2008, Facebook was considered one of the worst performing Internet sites for advertising. Facebook's use of that social networking model has reportedly dramatically driven up Facebook's advertising click through rates."

Nearly all the technology that makes Facebook successful is based on Yahoo patents, the company further states.

"For much of the technology upon which Facebook is based, Yahoo! got there first and was therefore granted patents by the United States Patent Office to protect those innovations. Yahoo!'s patents relate to cutting edge innovations in online products, including in messaging, news feed generation, social commenting, advertising display, preventing click fraud, and privacy controls," Yahoo alleged in its court filing. "These innovations dramatically improve user experience, privacy, and security and enhance the ability of advertisers to connect with users."

What does Yahoo want? Money. Lots of money.

"Even if Facebook were to subsequently pay past due royalties, it would still enjoy a market share it has developed during its period of 'free riding' on Yahoo!'s intellectual property. Yahoo! would likewise lose its portion of the market share for this period. Due to the difficulty in predicting whether, if at all, such market share can be recovered, Yahoo!'s harm cannot be compensated by payment of past due royalties alone."

Yahoo doesn't specify a dollar amount. But whatever amount of damages the court sees fit to grant, Yahoo says those damages should be tripled "in view of the willful and deliberate nature of the infringement."

Yahoo is asserting ten patents against Facebook, divided into five categories: social networking, advertising, privacy, customization, and messaging. Facebook, by the way, apparently owns just 21 US patents, while Yahoo has more than 1,000.

Yahoo notified Facebook of the allegedly infringed patents on Feb. 27, and then filed suit after Facebook apparently refused to pay the licensing fees Yahoo demanded. Let's take a look at each of the ten patents being asserted against Facebook, organized by the category divisions used in Yahoo's lawsuit.

More:
Yahoo IP lawsuit: We patented "Facebook's entire social network model"

TAMPA, Fla. & LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Rounder, Inc. (Rounder or the Company) (Pink Sheets: RNDR) today announces a licensing agreement making available the creation of a 3D, user-based, online virtual world that will incorporate social interactions, poker, e-commerce/retail shopping, streaming entertainment, dating, couponing, real world social happenings, and news created on the Invicta Corridor Social Gaming Platform. Invicta is the brainchild of video game legend Jonathan Eubanks.

Rounder is taking the lead in designing the newest and most exciting gaming in virtual worlds (made so popular by Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA - News)) through global platforms, including Facebook, Google+, Apple iOS, and Google Android. Jonathan Eubanks has designed over 60 games working for some of the largest video game publishers in the industry, including Activision, Universal Interactive, Vivendi Universal Games, Warner Brothers Interactive, and Brash Entertainment. With the Invicta Corridor Social Gaming Platform Jonathan is fulfilling his lifelong dream of creating the ultimate virtual world experience a world in which Rounder World will exclusively represent the finest poker and entertainment experience available online.

The Invicta Corridor Social Gaming Platform is the very first 3D virtual world gaming platform to operate seamlessly on PCs, Mac computers and iPads, and has a version being developed for iPhones.

Rounder, Inc. also announces the expansion of its presence on Facebook with its improved fan page and direct link to the RounderLife.com online poker experience. Rounder continues to work with its current partner ZEN Entertainment to finalize development of its Facebook application to allow Rounder to directly interact within the Facebook platform.

Rounder, Inc. is a gaming company with a focus on social networking initiatives while preparing for the limitless opportunities expected upon the legalization of internet poker gambling.

Originally posted here:
Rounder, Inc. (RNDR) Announces Virtual World and Social Networking Strategy

BroadVision's Clearvale enterprise social networking software will now lets companies create networks on an ad hoc manner in which a mix of employees, partners and customers can participate.

Until now, the BroadVision software has allowed for the configuration of enterprise social networks devoted exclusively to employees, or to customers or partners, but the new capability to create "hybrid" networks will make the product more effective in improving business communication and collaboration, the company said on Tuesday.

The new capabilities are possible through features called Guest, Zones and Conduits. The Guest feature lets administrators add users to a network, but giving them more limited access to content and fewer permissions to perform certain actions, when compared with regular members of the network. Meanwhile, the Zones and Conduits features let administrators create collaborative workspaces that are, respectively, public or private.

BroadVision also added analytics features to Clearvale that are designed to not only measure and track usage of enterprise social networks, but also establish incentives for users to encourage their participation.

The Clearvale upgrade also includes an improved Task feature, integration with Microsoft SharePoint and an updated mobile application for iPhones and iPads.

Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.

Excerpt from:
BroadVision Revamps Clearvale Enterprise Social Networking Software

12-03-2012 12:40 Paul Davison talks to Forbes' Tomio Geron about how he hopes Highlight will help change the way people worldwide interact and communicate.

Go here to read the rest:
Highlight App Makes Big Splash @ SXSW - Video

Yahoo has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, claiming that the social networking giant is infringing on 10 patents.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, "Facebook's entire social network model, which allows users to create profiles for and connect with, among other things, persons and businesses, is based on Yahoo's patented social networking technology."

Facebook says that it's "disappointed" that Yahoo has decided to resort to litigation, but Yahoo contends that it is "confident it will prevail."

Facebook is supposedly infringing on Yahoo's advertising, privacy, customization, social networking and messaging patents, and others.

Yahoo's advertising patents include four patents related to generating ads that relate to users (like Facebook's personalized ads that include users' friends info) and monitoring ad clicks for click fraud. Yahoo's privacy patents include two patents that allow users to customize how information is shared (like Facebook's privacy settings -- but perhaps a little more coherent).

Yahoo's customization patents include two patents related to customizing a Web experience based on users' needs and interests (like Facebook's "Like" button). Yahoo's social networking patent is about letting users customize info about themselves, join groups of people with similar interests, and share information; Yahoo's messaging patent encapsulates e-mail, instant messaging, and "other messaging communication" on social networking websites.

In the lawsuit, Yahoo notes that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg "has conceded that the design of Facebook is not novel and is based on the ideas of others." Yahoo backs up this claim by quoting Zuckerberg himself: "The thing that's been really surprising about the evolution of Facebook is -- I think then and I think now -- that if we didn't do this someone else would have done it. Getting there first is not what it's all about."

To me that just sounds like Zuckerberg is conceding that "being first" isn't necessarily the most important thing.

Yahoo says Facebook is infringing on patents in "messaging, news feed generation, social commenting, advertising display, preventing click fraud, and privacy controls." Yahoo also claims that, before it adopted Yahoo's "patented social networking technology in 2008," Facebook was considered one of the "worst performing Internet sites for advertising."

Yahoo is asking that Facebook pay triple damages and all of Yahoo's legal costs, and that Facebook be "permanently enjoined" from further infringement of the patents in the suit.

Read this article:
Yahoo Sues Facebook, Alleging Patent Infringement