Facebook has been ordered to hand over its source code, yet again, after an apparent patent infringement by Facebook on Leader Technologies’ patent for “associating a piece of data with multiple categories”.
Facebook was ordered last month to hand over all its source code by August 21, to Leader Technologies, after the latter won a court case for patent infringement in the Delaware District Court. According to Realgeek, Facebook objected on the orders to release its source code, which has just stalled this case for a while. Both parties are sticking to their original stand, with Leader Technologies stating that they need the full access to the source code, whilst Facebook believes that their contentions are inadequate and that it is unfair that they have to reveal their entire source code.
Facebook now has to hand over the source code for the platform no later than September 15, so that Leader Technologies can review it in its entirety, according to the latest court documents, dated September 4. Leader Technologies will only be able to view the source code under the very watchful eye of Facebook representatives, but naturally, Facebook is upset that they have to reveal their entire source code as it seems mostly irrelevant to the court case. Leader claims that Facebook’s entire website infringes on their patent (more specifically, its context component and tracking system) and that they managed to create more that 100 screenshots that prove this fact.
Facebook has claimed that they will be hurt by Leader Technologies viewing their source code, for obvious reasons. Facebook must also produce all technical documents and outlines by September 29 for review.