Facebook investors warned of 'unfavorable outcome' in Yahoo patent lawsuit

Washington, Mar 28 (ANI): Social networking giant Facebook has warned investors of an "unfavorable outcome" in connection with a patent lawsuit brought against the firm by Yahoo.

The embattled Internet firm sued Facebook in a US federal court two weeks ago, alleging that the website was infringing on its patents related to advertising, social networking, privacy, customization and messaging.

Facebook noted the risk in a filing Tuesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, The Los Angeles Times reports.

" Yahoo is seeking unspecified damages, a damage multiplier for alleged willful infringement, and an injunction. We have not yet filed an answer or asserted any counterclaims with respect to this complaint. We intend to vigorously defend this lawsuit ," Facebook said in the filing.

"This litigation is still in its early stages and the final outcome, including our liability, if any, with respect to these claims, is uncertain. If an unfavorable outcome were to occur in this litigation, the impact could be material to our business, financial condition, or results of operations," it added.

Meanwhile, Facebook recently bought 750 software and networking technology patents from IBM in a bid to defend itself as it prepares for an initial public stock offering that could give the company a value of 100 billion dollars or more.

According to the report, in an SEC filing, Facebook said it had applied for 503 patents in the US and had been issued 56. (ANI)