Facebook wasn’t the first social network to exist on the Web, nor was it the first site to allow users to set up a personal page containing details about themselves. But it is the biggest social networking site in the world, and consequently is the one that seems destined to fight off lawsuits left, right, and center for the next few years.

Facebook has already had to deal with a number of lawsuits, most of which it has managed to bat away quite easily due to them not really having any merit. And now it has a new one to contend with. Facebook has already issued a short statement saying, “This suit is without merit, and we will fight it vigorously.’’ But apart from that one line, it’s refusing to be drawn into discussing the finer details of the lawsuit.

The Boston Globe does its best to spell out exactly what the lawsuit is over. It’s being brought a company called Phoenix Media, which owns a number of Web sites and alternative weekly publications. It also, via its Tele-Publishing Inc. division, provides multimedia services to around 200 newspapers and broadcasters, including The Washington Post.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court on Wednesday TPI claims to own a patent for the “Method and Apparatus For Providing a Personal Page.” And it alleges that Facebook’s “computer network and method of creating and sharing a personal page’’ is covered by the patent issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on June 26, 2001.

In essence, TPI is maintaining that it has patented the means of allowing Web users to create and manage a personal page. Which, in my purely layman’s view, is preposterous.

For starters, Facebook wasn’t the first and isn’t the only social network or site offering such services. Why aren’t MySpace, Bebo, Friendfeed, or any of the sites that have come and gone since the dawn of the Internet not being sued in addition to Facebook? Could it be that Facebook is now so prevalent that it’s the obvious target?

And why now? Facebook has been around for several years and has always offered the same type of service, even if its user interface has altered somewhat in that time. If the patent was issued in 2001 then Facebook has been infringing on it since the day it was launched.

Phoenix Media claims Facebook’s infringement is drawing revenue away from its business, although it doesn’t explain how much revenue or what damages it is seeking. I personally can’t see it mattering, because I agree with Facebook on this one. At least on the face of it.

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Entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 8:12 pm under Internet, Leaks, Legal, Opinion, Social Media.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
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