Friendster Receives Third Social Networking Patent As Part of Growing Portfolio
SAN FRANCISCO, March 15 /PRNewswire/ — Friendster, Inc. (http://www.friendster.com/) an online community that connects people through networks of friends, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the social networking pioneer a new U.S. Patent titled, “System and Method for Managing Connections in an Online Social Network” (U.S. Patent No. 7,188,153 B2). This is the third in a growing portfolio of patents granted to Friendster, highlighting the company’s innovation in online social networking.
The patent, granted on March 6, 2007, describes a technology that allows members of a social network to manage their connections. Specifics disclosed in the patent include adding friends, personalizing your profile through arranging, ordering and classifying connections made in an online community, and managing these connections at will.
“We’re excited about adding another significant social networking patent to our already strong portfolio,” said David Jones, vice president of marketing at Friendster. “Friendster laid the groundwork upon which online social networking is built. This validates and protects our heritage as a pioneer in the industry, and allows Friendster to remain at the forefront of innovation for our more than 40 million global users and over 19 million monthly unique visitors.”
The latest patent is the third to be granted to Friendster within the past nine months.
In July 2006, Friendster was awarded its first U.S. patent illustrating and describing how people are connected in the context of an online social network titled, “A System, Method and Apparatus for Connecting Users in an Online Computer System Based on Their Relationships within Social Networks” (U.S. Patent No. 7,069,308).
In October 2006, Friendster received a second U.S. patent which discloses the process of enriching other user’s profiles with text, video, pictures and additional content titled, “Method of Inducing Content Uploads in a Social Network” (U.S. Patent No. 7,117,254).
“These three patents address some fundamentals of online networking — establishing connections, distributing and sharing content, and managing connections over time,” said Jones. “Friendster has filed and will continue to file new patent applications to document its innovations, but Friendster remains focused on growing a very large, global business into an even larger and highly profitable one.”
About Friendster
With more than 40 million members worldwide, Friendster is a leading online social network. Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them. Friendster’s trusted network, which emphasizes genuine, real-world friendships, is popular among people of all ages, but is particularly popular among young adults. Friendster has a growing portfolio of patents granted to the company on social networking, with more expected over the next several months. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Friendster is backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures and individual investors. For more information, visit: http://www.friendster.com/.
Friendster, Inc.
CONTACT: Lerin O’Neill of Friendster, +1-408-975-3037, orpress@friendster.com
Web site: http://www.friendster.com/