The patents in the Yahoo!-Facebook patent war

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The patents in the Yahoo!-Facebook patent war

Yahoo! has reportedly demanded licensing fees from Facebook for technology relating to advertising, the personalisation of Web sites, social networking and messaging

The move could usher in a new era of patent fights in the realm of social media.

The internet company briefed the New York Times Monday, in advance of a meeting between representatives of the two companies. Facebook said it hasn’t had enough time to review the claims and could not comment.

A Yahoo! spokesperson told Managing IP she could not pass on the numbers of the patents at issue, but a search of the USPTO database turned up some of the possible candidates. Yahoo! said there are 10 to 20 patents being asserted.

The company also sent the following emailed statement to Managing IP: “Yahoo! has a responsibility to its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders to protect its intellectual property. We have invested substantial resources into these innovations. Recognizing that, other major web and technology companies have already licensed some of these technologies. We must insist that Facebook either enter into a licensing agreement or we will be compelled to move forward unilaterally to protect our rights.”

Yahoo! is the assignee on 1,020 patents in the USPTO patent database. Here are some that include the terms the company has indicated the asserted patents cover.

Patents geared to advertising

8,108,257 Delayed advertisement insertion in videos

8,108,254

Methods to attribute conversions for online advertisement campaigns

8,073,803

Method for matching electronic advertisements to surrounding context based on their advertisement content

7,974,880

System for updating advertisement bids

7,949,562

System and method for optimizing advertisement campaigns using a limited budget

7,870,026

Selecting and displaying advertisement in a personal media space

7,865,397

Category-based advertisement

7,840,438

System and method for discounting of historical click through data for multiple versions of an advertisement

7,831,456

Advertisement display depth optimization to maximize click activity page yield

7,783,617

Personals advertisement affinities in a networked computer system

7,739,708

System and method for revenue based advertisement placement



8,078,149

Advertising information display method, and advertising information display system


8,069,099

Systems and methods for presenting advertising content based on publisher-selected labels


8,060,416

Method and system for providing advertising inventory information in response to demographic inquiries


7,949,563

System and method for collection of advertising usage information


7,848,764

System for providing location predictive advertising


7,844,605

Using natural search click events to optimize online advertising campaigns


7,685,197

System and methods for indentifying the potential advertising value of terms found on web pages


7,546,249

System and method for managing advertising inventory to maximize advertising revenue


7,409,402

Systems and methods for presenting advertising content based on publisher-selected labels

Patents geared to social networking


8,108,501

Searching and route mapping based on a social network, location, and time


8,005,906

Contextual mobile local search based on social network vitality information


7,954,058

Sharing of content and hop distance over a social network



7,945,862


Social network site including contact-based recommendation functionality


7,917,154

Determining mobile content for a social network based on location and time


7,885,901

Method and system for seeding online social network contacts


7,844,604

Automatically generating user-customized notifications of changes in a social network system


7,636,779

Contextual mobile local search based on social network vitality information


7,269,590

Method and system for customizing views of information associated with a social network user


7,016,307

Method and system for finding related nodes in a social network


Patents geared to website personalisation

8,126,930


Micro-bucket testing for page optimization

8,112,703


Aggregate tag views of website information

8,112,501


Centralized registration for distributed social content services

8,095,487


System and method for biasing search results based on topic familiarity

8,060,579


User location dependent DNS lookup

8,010,996


Authentication seal for online applications

7,974,956


Authenticating a site while protecting against security holes by handling common web server configurations

7,962,523


System and method for detecting templates of a website using hyperlink analysis

7,941,420


Method for organizing structurally similar web pages from a web site

7,941,416


Harvesting of media objects from searched sites without a user having to enter the sites




7,774,330


Method and system of providing user augmented content

7,707,198


Harvesting of media objects from searched sites without a user having to enter the sites

7,617,208


User query data mining and related techniques

7,562,311


Persistent photo tray

7,882,039


System and method of adaptive personalization of search results for online dating services

7,197,544


Voice and video greeting system for personal advertisement and method

6,813,580


Method and system of automatic bandwidth detection

6,499,052


Electronic commerce system for referencing remote commerce sites at a local commerce site

Patents geared to messaging


8,107,495


Integrating access to audio messages and instant messaging with VOIP


8,001,102


Integration of instant messaging with internet searching


7,917,465


System and method for providing vector terms related to instant messaging conversations


7,822,822


Instant messaging system configured to facilitate event plan management


7,634,072


Integrated instant messaging, routing and telephone services billing system


7,454,472


Determining a manner in which user interface commands are processed in an instant messaging environment


7,409,384


Integration of instant messaging with internet searching


7,406,501


System and method for instant messaging using an e-mail protocol


7,359,943


Providing instant messaging functionality in non-instant messaging environments


7,260,082


Seamless interfacing for instant messaging and internet telephony across wireless networks


7,240,214


Centrally controllable instant messaging system


7,188,143


Messenger-controlled applications in an instant messaging environment


7,133,900


Sharing and implementing instant messaging environments


7,120,672


Method and system for sharing information in an instant messaging environment



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Hurtado Rivas is general counsel for brands and marketing properties, anti-counterfeiting and licensing at Nestlé in Switzerland
Stelling is a co-founder of Brand Action
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