Friendster, now less friendly?

Taken from: http://www.redherring.com

Originally wirtten by L. Gannes for Redherring website

Friendster Wins Patent After emerging from debt, Friendster wins a patent on social networking. July 6, 2006 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.  Naming Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams, who has left the company, as inventor, the patent refers to a “system, method, and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks.” “It’s way too early to say” whether the company would pursue licenses and litigation from its competitors, Friendster President Kent Lindstrom told RedHerring.com. “We’ll do what we can to protect our intellectual property.”
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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. Hoping for a Turnaround San Francisco-based Friendster has had a troubled past, falling from grace after being a social networking pioneer. Though it still counts 9 million to 10 million users, many of them in Asia, the company had lost momentum to younger networks such as MySpace... (Read more...)