Yahoo: Facebook Treading On Our Server Patents

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Yahoo: Facebook Treading On Our Server Patents

Yahoo: Facebook Treading On Our Server Patents
- By: Rich Miller
  May 4th, 2012
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A look at the Open Compute Server from Facebook. Yahoo says some of the technology in the server "is relevant" to Yahoo patents.

Yahoo has asserted that Facebook’s data center and server technology may infringe upon patents owned by Yahoo and companies it has acquired. Yahoo’s claims cover technology included in the Open Compute Project, the open source initiative that has published details of many of Facebook’s server and data center designs.

Yahoo hasn’t filed suit over the data center and server patents, but is already suing Facebook over alleged infringements on patents related to advertising, social networking, privacy and messaging.

In an April 23 letter to Facebook, Yahoo says that public descriptions of Facebook’s designs are “relevant” to proprietary Yahoo technology in 16 patents, including some dating back to 2001. Many of the patents relate to web caching, load balancing and content replication technology developed by Inktomi and WebSpective, two companies acquired by Yahoo.

Other patents cited by Yahoo are more recent and related to cold aisle containment systems developed by Yahoo to isolate airflow and cool servers efficiently.

“We also understand that at least one former Yahoo employee who had responsibility in connection with Yahoo’s data centers now has responsibility over the operations of Facebook’s data centers,” Yahoo wrote.

It’s hard to tell whether this is a serious technology beef or posturing ahead of Facebook’s IPO, which is scheduled for May 18. Companies preparing to go public sometimes seek to settle legal disputes prior to their IPOs to reduce investor concern that a future judgment will affect the share price.

TechCrunch has posted Yahoo’s letter at SlideShare.
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About Rich Miller

Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.

Patent war clouds Open Compute Project progress

Posted May 5th, 2012

[...] According to Data Center Knowledge, Yahoo claims the social media giant is treading on 16 patents that cover proprietary tech. These run a gamut of innovations like cold aisle containment systems to web caching and load balancing. The embattled Web company — whose CEO, Scott Thompson, is embroiled in a flap involving his non-existent computer science degree – also insinuates that some of its IP may have been improperly transferred to Facebook. [...]