Facebook sued by Phoenix Media

According to a report on Boston.com, the lawsuit alleges that Facebook’s “computer network and method of creating and sharing a personal page" is covered by one or more claims of a patent issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office on June 26, 2001, to Tele-Publishing. The patent includes an online template and graphics for building a personal Web page and provides users with a secure way to share personal information with other computer network users, according to the suit. The company doesn’t specify what damages it is seeking.

Tele-Publishing Inc., a division of the Phoenix company that provides multimedia personal and dating services ads to 200 newspapers and broadcasters nationally, including The Washington Post.

The suit has apparently been in the works for the past year. In violating the patent, Facebook is drawing revenue away the Phoenix, the suit claims. But the suit does not specify how much revenue Tele-Publishing may be losing.

Facebook was launched in 2004 and currently has 300 million users with the fastest growing demographic being people older than 35, according to its website.

A spokesman for Facebook reportedly stated that the suit was "without merit". Peter Kadzis, executive editor at Phoenix Media/Communications strongly disagrees, stating that “The intellectual concepts that Facebook uses to give its users maximum flexibility of choice while maintaining the highest level of privacy replicate/duplicate those developed by TPI many years ago.It’s not a frivolous suit."

Cheryl Phillips
Exclusive to HULIQ.com

sources: Boston.com, Facebook