Facebook Files Countersuit In Patent-Infringement Case Vs. Mitel Networks

When Facebook faced a patent-infringement lawsuit by Yahoo, countersuing turned out to be an effective strategy, leading to a settlement between the two companies. The social network is apparently hoping for a similar outcome in a patent suit filed against it by Mitel Networks in March.

When Facebook faced a patent-infringement lawsuit by Yahoo, countersuing turned out to be an effective strategy, leading to a settlement between the two companies. The social network is apparently hoping for a similar outcome in a patent suit filed against it by Mitel Networks in March.

The Canadian communications outfit claimed in its suit that Facebook infringed on these two patents:

7,292,685, proactive features for telephony, covering systems for proactively suggesting communications features to users.
5,940,834, automatic web page generator, covering automatic Web page generation of organizational directories for use in Internet and Intranet environments.

David Cohen is editor of Adweek's Social Pro Daily.