Friendster Awarded Patent on Social Networking
Adding yet another weapon to the arsenal of those interested in patent reform, it appears that the USPTO has awarded Friendster with a patent on social networking. The sick joke that the patent system has become is being presented almost weekly, with new and insane patents being awarded for just about every obvious idea imaginable.
To make matters worse, it appears that Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams merely ripped his buddy’s business networking idea, and added dating as an extra ingredient. So not only is there prior art, but the company went ahead and knowingly submitted a patent application for an idea that was already in use, sans the dating element.
This is going to be interesting to watch, especially if Friendster, and their rapidly declining user base, decides to go after other sites for licensing dollars in order to recoup the revenue they are losing to these sites.
