Facebook being sued for use of ‘like’ button

TORONTO – Social networking giant Facebook is being sued for the use of its ‘like’ button.

Law firm Fish & Richardson filed the patent infringement lawsuit in Virginia on Feb. 5 on behalf of Rembrandt Social Media LP.

The lawsuit says that Facebook infringed two Rembrandt patents, U.S. Patent No. 6,415,316 and No. 6,289,362. Additionally, Add This Inc. is accused of infringing on patent No. 6,289,362.

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According to Mashable, the popular Facebook feature that allows users to “like” each other’s posts was patented by Dutch programmer Joannes Jozef Everardus van Der Meer in 1998, five years before Facebook launched. Rembrandt Social Media LP now owns the patents.

“We believe Rembrandt’s patents represent an important foundation of social media as we know it, and we expect a judge and jury to reach the same conclusion based on the evidence,” attorney Tom Melsheimer, counsel for Rembrandt and managing principal of Fish & Richardson’s Dallas office said in a press release.