Meta and the story of the patent (which she uses on Facebook and Instagram) that cost her $175 million


Maxence Glineur

February 23, 2023 at 6:45 p.m.

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justice © © Ekaterina Bolovtsova / Pexels

© Ekaterina Bolovtsova / Pexels

Facebook’s parent company has been found guilty of using Voxer’s patented technologies without permission.

Web giants have a habit of buying up start-ups to appropriate their patents and, when all goes well, their talents. Despite the colossal sums involved, this strategy can allow them to reduce their research and development expenses, while benefiting from almost turnkey solutions to improve their own services. This is how things work most of the time. But, large companies often end up looking for tricks to save a few million dollars, even if it means sometimes falling into illegality.

Negotiations that failed… ten years ago

Tom Katis, a former special forces sergeant who served in Afghanistan, focused on solving communication problems on the battlefield. He started working on patents for a new application in 2006, which eventually led to the creation of Voxer. Launched in 2011, it allows live communication by audio and video. The technology behind it quickly caught the eye of Facebook, which offered a collaboration with the ex-serviceman’s company.

Early in the negotiations, Voxer leaked its proprietary technology to Mark Zuckerberg’s company. However, the meetings having not resulted in an agreement, the latter finally identified its interlocutor as a competitor, although not having an equivalent solution at that time. As a result, the walkie-talkie app was stripped of access to some key features of the social media platform it was then legally using, long before negotiations began.

The ruthless universe of trials in Texas

Launched in 2015, Facebook Live would have incorporated technologies from Voxer, according to the latter. Tom Katis was able to get a meeting with a product manager at Facebook in February 2016 to raise the issue of patent infringement. However, the web giant refused to make any deal, before launching Instagram Live the following fall.

A trial later, and Meta finds herself facing a hefty fine. In September 2022, the jury found that the company infringed on two patents, relating to a method for streaming video and an infrastructure for a video messaging service. Voxer is thus awarded $174.5 million in damages in the form of royalties.

Since a soap opera takes place in several episodes, the web giant asked the court to annul the verdict or to organize a new trial. He cites several arguments, including the invalidity of the patents and the fact that Voxer’s lawyer had made ” inappropriate comments which would have influenced the jury. What a federal judge in Austin, Texas, has just dismissed, thus forcing Meta to pay the fine.

If this case has piqued your interest and kept you on your toes, Facebook’s parent company can still appeal to a higher court. ” Meta will return… “.

Source : Reuters



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