Friendster said Thursday that it has received a patent that covers online social networks, one the company had applied for long before its decline and recent recapitalization.
The U.S. patent, which was awarded June 27, is extremely general, and would seem to cover the activities of many other sites, especially those like LinkedIn that allow people to connect within a certain number of degrees of separation.
[…]
Though the Friendster patent could be challenged in either the patent system or the courts, opponents would face an uphill battle. “Once the patent is issued there is a presumption of validity that follows with it,” said attorney Bill Heinze of Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer & Risley.
And will WalMart then go after Friendster for using the smiley face?
AGH! Not that I care about social networking in general but this drives home to many how broken the patent system is.
“Friendster has never been profitable”
The new business model nowadays, those who can’t, sue. It should be interesting to see this one play out. I also love how the president of the company talks about “protecting his intellectual property” give me a break.
Now I suppose MySpace.com will rush to patent their system for “attracting online predators.”
I’m surprised the Business community is not lobbying Congress to change this. It becomes extremely difficult to run a business when someone crawls out from under a rock claiming a patent on something like this.