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On February 23, 2010, Facbook, Inc. was awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,669,123 titled Dynamically Providing A News Feed About A User Of A Social Network. Anyone that uses Facebook understands how the “news feed” feature works. You put something in as your status, or you perform some function using Facebook, and your friends can view that you have done or have posted in their news feed, along with the activities of everyone else that they are friends with. It seems to me that Twitter (feel free to follow us on Twitter @LegalTeamUSA and @TacticalIP, or me personally @PTOLawyer) does something similar, but to a much smaller scale. A user of Twitter can view updates from people that they follow. It is a bit more informal than Facebook, and it does not allow a user to provide nearly as much information as they can provide on Facebook.
Claim 1 of the Facebook patent reads as follows:
A method for displaying a news feed in a social network environment, the method comprising:
- monitoring a plurality of activities in a social network environment;
- storing the plurality of activities in a database;
- generating a plurality of news items regarding one or more of the activities, wherein one or more of the news items is for presentation to one or more viewing users and relates to an activity that was performed by another user;
- attaching a link associated with at least one of the activities of another user to at least one of the plurality of news items where the link enables a viewing user to participate in the same activity as the another user;
- limiting access to the plurality of news items to a set of viewing users; and
- displaying a news feed comprising two or more of the plurality of news items to at least one viewing user of the predetermined set of viewing users.
I am the King of Social Networking!
It’s not the broadest patent I have ever read, but I believe it certainly covers their commercial embodiment. Facebook has been extraordinarily successful in generating revenue while allowing users free access to the social network. It seems to me that Facebook has done a pretty decent job at allowing their users to connect with one another, for free, and providing those users with the tools that are desirable to share information with others. What users probably do not realize, however, is that the Facebook system keeps information in a database – probably for a very long time. Users should be careful what they post on any social networking website, and be cognizant of the fact that the information they post doesn’t just go away once your news feed gets too long for the screen. Quite the contrary. As indicated in the above claim, Facebook stores that information in a database. How long do you think it will be before we hear about law enforcement getting a subpoena for Facebook historical records (it’s probably already happened)? I know that in Australia, service of process was valid when using Facebook for a foreclosure action.
As if Facebook didn’t already dominate the social networking world, this should give them an even bigger advantage over their competitors. I am curious to see how this will play out in the future, i.e., whether Facebook will attempt to enforce their patents against other social networks – look out Twitter.
Comments
Posted On
Mar 24, 2010Posted By
Jeff YablonYeah, well, from a purely not-a-lawyer perspective, think about this (which oddly, lawyers are starting to pick up on):
http://answerguy.com/2010/02/25/patents-must-be-unique-facebook-7669123/
Jeff Yablon
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Posted On
Mar 24, 2010Posted By
markmalekJeff – thanks for your comment. I read your article. I understand where you are coming from, but from the PTO’s perspective, there was nothing that the Examiner located in the prior art that either read on the claims presented in the Facebook patent or, in combination with other prior art, made the claims of the Facebook patent obvious (that is an assumption). That being said, the PTO resources are limited, and patent examiners do not normally have access to the type of information that someone like you might have. That is the product of a system that, I hope, is on the way to being improved by Kappos. I am interested to see how the Facebook patent will play out against the other social networking competitors…..
Posted On
Mar 24, 2010Posted By
Jeff YablonMark, I understand your point, and there’s no question that the PTO guys are overwork/underpaid, etc. And I guess that ultimately the system tends to work itself out.
Ultimately.
The problem (and while I acknowledge that I’m coming from the left I’m not extreme left) is that waiting for the system to work its way out puts the smaller people who most need the system’s protection at an extreme disadvantage . . . and I’m pretty sure it’s exactly those people who the system was designed to protect.
So we’re back where we started. PTO needs to do a better job. And giving them a pass because they’re overworked doesn’t address that. As you said, with any luck the adoption of better tools will help.
JY
Posted On
Mar 24, 2010Posted By
markmalek100% agreed Jeff. I think, however, that the patent reform act of 2010 may come closer to resolving this issue than technological changes at the PTO. Check out my previous post about patent reform: http://tacticalip.com/2010/03/07/patent-reform-act-moving-forward/. The new act includes a provision that would allow for third parties to comment on pending applications. This can be good and bad all at the same time. The Examiners will have so much more to look at during examination, which could provide for a higher quality patent, that is issued a lot slower. What a conundrum! I guess that’s why the politicians in DC get the big bucks!