The 10 patents Facebook is asserting against Yahoo in a counterclaim accusing Yahoo of ripping off Facebook-owned technology shows that Facebook’s recent push to acquire more patents is moving along at breakneck speed. In at least one case, and perhaps several, the patents asserted today were acquired after Yahoo provoked Facebook by accusing the company of patent infringement. Facebook is also claiming that it has “implied” licenses to the very patents Yahoo is using to sue Facebook, perhaps because of a technology partnership that the companies had before they started suing each other. Yahoo’s March 12 lawsuit, claiming that “Facebook’s entire social network model … is based on Yahoo!’s patented social networking technology,” took advantage of a Facebook weakness—a shortage of patents relative to its competitors. But Facebook has been ramping up its patent acquiring spree, both by filing for new patents and buying them from other companies.

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Facebook countersues Yahoo with patent acquired after being sued by Yahoo