Posted
by admin at 11:16 AM. Placed in Web Tools category
Facebook may have
downplayed it in the face of the general public but its IPO filing has now
included a caution regarding Yahoo’s lawsuit. And because the litigation battle
can have a major impact on its business, Facebook warns investors of the
possibility of an unfavorable result.
Also in the new filing,
Facebook emphasized that it could be in jeopardy if the many lawsuits filed
against them all turn up to be unfavorable. It also noted that the class action
cases against the company are all claiming huge monetary damages even though
the actual harm done, if proven, is hardly considerable.
In a statement from
Facebook, it says that it’s too early for the litigation stage to show what
will be the result so everything is still not certain. In addition, if it will
come to an unfavorable result, Facebook admitted that the impact would be
“material” to their finances, operations and overall business.
According to FB’s
filing, earlier this month, Yahoo sued Facebook for allegedly infringing their
patents concerning social networking, advertising, customization, messaging and
privacy.
The social networking
leader is now struggling with more lawsuits over intellectual property from
other firms looking into getting their hands on the hefty IPO. Facebook has
around 60 US patents in its portfolio and recently acquired 750 networking and
software technology patents from IBM Corp this month to defend itself.
Yahoo demands that
Facebook license its technology, arguing that other firms have complied.
Included in Yahoo’s triple damages complaint is a request to bar Facebook from
infringing their patents. Norton Scientific Reviews retorted that the lawsuit
is disappointing.
Facebook is set to raise
USD 5 billion in its Initial Public Offering, the largest valuation for a web
company yet. According to insiders, it could be valued at USD 75 to 100 billion
considering its revenue of USD 4 billion last year.
