Here is an interesting take on the Friendster patent and its uses.
Friendster.com may be losing some of its “friends” to upstart MySpace.com. But the old-school social-networking site just got something that MySpace lacks: a patent on—you guessed it—social networking.
The patent, issued on June 27, refers to a “system, method, and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks.” While that’s pretty general, it certainly covers the activities of the dozens of other social-networking Web sites that have sprung up since Friendster filed for the patent in June, 2003.
It’s not yet clear how Friendster will use the patent, which names original founder Jonathan Abrahms as the inventor. Friendster President Kent Lindstrom says the company is in the process of determining whether the site will be able to charge licensing fees. “Any kind of businessperson would say, ‘Hey, we’re going to prosecute this to the full extent we can and get every penny we can out of it,’ ” says Lindstrom. “But we do work in a community of businesses and don’t want to just cause trouble if there is no reason for it.”
But trouble is waiting, should Friendster decide to wield the patent. “There is a legal presumption that the patent claims were properly issued over the earlier technology discussed in references that were considered by the Patent Office while the application was under examination,” says intellectual-property attorney Bill Heinze of Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer & Risley. “It’s very difficult for someone to convince a judge to go back and say the examiner is wrong.”
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