The patent wars that have been raging in the technology industry have now spread to the social media world, with Yahoo! Inc. demanding licensing fees from Facebook for use of its technology. Yahoo! claims that many aspects of Facebook, including its ads, news feed, messages and privacy controls infringe on 10 to 20 of Yahoo!’s patents.
An emailed statement from Yahoo! indicated that, should Facebook refuse to pay up, Yahoo! would not hesitate to take the social media giant to court.
"Yahoo has a responsibility to its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders to protect its intellectual property," Yahoo! wrote.
Of course, Yahoo! may just be trying to get while the getting is good, as Facebook recently announced its intent to file for an initial public offering that could value the company at up to $100 billion.
