Yahoo, Inc. is involved in one of the largest legal battles of it’s company history with Facebook, who has IPO (initial public offering) plans in the future.
The lawsuit was originally filed by Yahoo on Monday, March 12, in which Yahoo, Inc. made claims that Facebook infringed on ten of it’s patents, two of which are social media related.
In an article by Reuters on March 12, it was stated that, “Yahoo said late last month it was seeking licensing fees from Facebook over its patents and that other companies have already agreed to such licensing deals.”
Yahoo ganged up on another company when it was in it’s IPO process back in 2004. Maybe you’ve heard of the company? Google, who agreed to issue shares to Yahoo before it went public in exchange for licensing for Yahoo’s patents.
While it seems that Yahoo is valid in it’s claims, it is also trying to take advantage of a company in it’s most vulnerable stage that is seemingly doing better financially. It’s a smart legal move but turning into a bully with a company that they’ve done business with doesn’t seem like the right move in the realm of PR. Yahoo knows Facebook is becoming bigger and better and it appears as though the company is seeking to capitalize on their coattails, similar to how they did Google about 8 years ago.
All is fair in love and war?
Apparently not when your relationship status with Yahoo is nothing short of complicated.
Kristyn Potter 