Facebook wins patent violation suit
Print Edition
FACEBOOK successfully defended itself against a lawsuit that claimed the social media company infringed on patents held by a Dutch programmer who launched a website called “Surfbook” more than a decade ago.
A holding company called Rembrandt Social Media had alleged that a now-deceased Dutch computer programmer, Joannes Van Der Meer, developed and patented methods for running a Web-based pevrsonal diary before Facebook came into existence in 2003. But Van Der Meer’s website, Surfbook, never got off the ground.
Facebook said the patents should never have been issued to Van Der Meer, in part because they described methods that would be obvious to people in the trade.
Patent-infringement cases rarely make it to a jury trial, and Facebook had fought for a year to keep the case from getting to a jury. Experts say that jury rulings in such cases can be unpredictable.
A jury returned a verdict on Friday in favor of Facebook after a weeklong civil trial in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.
Rembrandt lawyers and officials did not return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment on whether they planned to appeal. The company complained about rulings before and during the trial that hurt its case.
US District Judge TS Ellis III barred Rembrandt’s expert on potential damages from testifying. Rembrandt tried unsuccessfully before the trial began to appeal that ruling to the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. During the trial, Rembrandt said questions Ellis asked of witnesses unfairly hurt its case in front of the jury, and asked for a new trial.
(AP)
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