Facebook ensnared in two social networking patent disputes

Facebook Patent Two companies are taking social networking heavyweight Facebook to court over claims that Facebook's website infringes on patents related to personal pages and establishing human relationships. Tele-Publishing Inc, a Boston-based company known for providing personals services to newspapers since the 1980s, is accusing Facebook of violating its patent on "providing a personal page."

Meanwhile, Japan-based Mekiki Co Ltd is suing Facebook for infringing on three of its US patents for a "human relationships registering system."The popular social networking site is facing software patent infringement claims from two less well known companies. A Boston-based company says Facebook infringes on its patent for making a profile page, while a Japanese company says Facebook infringes on its patents for tracking relationship between people. Both suits leave us questioning why the USPTO continues to award patents for software in the first place.

From : Ars technica