Facebook being sued over 'Like' button


likebutton

Facebook will have to be considering the long sought after 'Dislike' button after this.

The social network that we all use and are borderline addicted to is being sued for its 'Like' button by Dutch programmer Joannes Jozef Everardus van Der Meer, who claims he patented the idea five years before Facebook ever appeared in the world. Van Der Meer set up and patented a similar sounding site called Surfbook back in 1998, and his 'social diary' site let people 'like' each other's comments and photos before Facebook was even a gleam in the eye of young Mark Zuckerberg.

Well it's not actually Van Der Meer doing the suing, as he died in 2004, but the patent holder Rembrandt Social Media is seeking legal action for using patents without permission. Now we're probably not going to have to say goodbye to the 'like' button just yet, but if there's any truth in the claims, then the Dutch are about to get one nice big payout.

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Comments

  • View Profile for ShankillDublinShankillDublin

    FB should pay them a cent for every "like" that has been clicked. That wouldn't cost much, would it........

    Posted 12:03 | Wed 13th Feb 2013

  • View Profile for Mike N Charity CrossMike N Charity Cross

    LOL......I wonder how facebook would be without the "like" button? Mmmmmm...."unlikeable" I would think or better yet maybe the best new thing to ever happen.

    Posted 01:48 | Thu 14th Feb 2013

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