Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Policy

"Like" Button Violates Patents, Claims Dutch Family

They're suing

Reason Staff | 2.12.2013 1:56 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Facebook is being sued by the family of a deceased Dutch programmer who held two patents dealing with sharing and updating social media content long before the social networking site launched.

The suit, filed Feb. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, also names AddThis, a social bookmarking services that was an early partner of Facebook. The lawsuit alleges Facebook's "Like" button and other content-sharing features infringe on the patents.

The patents in question were granted in 2001 and 2002 to Joannes Jozef Everardus Van Der Meer, a computer scientist. Van Der Meer had reserved the domain name "surfbook.com" for what he termed a "personal diary" system, according to the lawsuit.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Personal Information Sold by Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Reason Staff
PolicyScience & TechnologySocial MediaFacebookIntellectual PropertyFree SpeechTechnology
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (2)

Latest

Comic: Henry Hazlitt in One Lesson

Peter Bagge | From the July 2025 issue

She Got a Permit for Her Chickens. Now the City Is Fining Her $80,000.

C. Jarrett Dieterle | 6.28.2025 6:30 AM

'We Can't Let These Sheep Go'

Fiona Harrigan | From the July 2025 issue

New Orleans City Council Considers Ordinance To Adopt Real-Time Facial Recognition Technology

Ronald Bailey | 6.27.2025 5:00 PM

Clarence Thomas Undermines Free Speech in Porn Site Age-Verification Case

Damon Root | 6.27.2025 4:00 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!