Yahoo Patent Suit Makes Waves in Silicon Valley
Yahoo Inc.’s patent suit against Facebook Inc. pits a weakened Internet pioneer against a fast-growing tech powerhouse, but some intellectual-property experts say it is Yahoo with the power position in this fight.
Yahoo’s decision to file suit accusing the social-networking website of violating 10 Yahoo patents covering technologies such as online advertising, privacy controls and messaging, is widely linked to the determination of its new chief executive, Scott Thompson, to get a better return on the company’s assets. Those assets include Yahoo’s more than 1,000 U.S. patents, which reflect the company’s investments in research and development since it was founded in 1994.
