Want button leads to countersuit, antitrust case dismissed, Ceglia indicted and more in this week's Facebook news roundup

Facebook countersues over 'want' button - Facebook this week filed a countersuit against Michigan-based company CVG-SAB, which claims the social network's unreleased "want" button is infringing on the trademark of its own button of the same name. CVG-SAB says it began marketing a want button in September 2010 to allow consumers to keep track of products and services they want around the web. Facebook tested a want button, as well as "like" and "collect" options, in its Collections feature earlier this year. The social network also seemed to be testing a plugin that created a want button for third-party sites, but that feature was never released. CVG-SAB says there is already confusion in the marketplace. Facebook denies it is violating any of the Michigan company's trademarks, claiming "want" is an everyday term. Facebook is asking the court to drop the suit against it and to cancel all of CVG-SAB's trademarks and trademark applications for the want button. Judge dismisses antitrust case against Facebook - A federal judge on Thursday dismissed an antitrust complaint against Facebook, ruling that the social network has the right to exclude users who install software to change the look of its site or swaps out its ads. A company that lets users personalize their Facebook page with custom images through an application called PageRage claimed that Facebook violated antitrust law by pressuring advertisers to stop using PageRage and locking out users until they they removed the program from their browsers. U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo said in her ruling: There is no fundamental right to use Facebook; users may only obtain a Facebook account upon agreement that they will comply with Facebook’s terms, which is unquestionably permissible under the antitrust laws. It follows, therefore, that Facebook is within its rights to require that its users disable certain products before using its website. Facebook claimant indicted for fraud, forced to pay legal fees - Paul Ceglia, the man infamous for claiming ownership of Facebook, was indicted for mail and wire fraud this week and is now being forced to pay Facebook nearly $90,000 in legal fees. Ceglia was indicted on charges that he faked evidence to support his claims that he signed a contract with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that gave him partial ownership rights to the company. Ceglia first brought his claims to the court in 2010. Nokia puts Facebook buttons on new phones - Nokia this week revealed two new phone models that include physical Facebook buttons to allow users to jump straight to their social network profile. The Asha 205 and Asha 205 dual-SIM are the first Nokia phones to include the Facebook button, which first appeared on the HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa in 2011. The Asha phones also include Qwerty keyboards and features that allow users to browse the web with minimal data.

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Want button leads to countersuit, antitrust case dismissed, Ceglia indicted and more in this week's Facebook news roundup

Brittany Darwell

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Brittany Darwell