Defendant
1 case as defendant.
Oath Holdings Inc. was the legal name for the entity created by Verizon Communications following its acquisition of Yahoo!'s operating business in 2017. The assets of Yahoo were combined with AOL, which Verizon had acquired in 2015, under the Oath umbrella. In January 2019, the division was renamed Verizon Media. In a $5 billion deal that closed in September 2021, Apollo Global Management acquired 90% of Verizon Media, with Verizon retaining a 10% stake; the company was subsequently renamed Yahoo Inc. As a private company, Yahoo Inc. is headquartered in New York, NY, with a major office in Sunnyvale, CA. A 2023 estimate placed its employee count at approximately 4,480.
Yahoo Inc. is a global media and technology company operating a portfolio of well-known digital brands and advertising platforms. Its consumer-facing products and services include Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, and Yahoo Sports, as well as media outlets like Engadget. The company's business-to-business offerings are centered on its advertising technology platforms, such as Yahoo Native, which provide programmatic advertising solutions. At the time of its sale to Apollo, the company's properties served nearly 900 million monthly active users worldwide.
The company's patent litigation posture, reflected in the provided data, is that of an operating company defending its business. It has been a defendant in one tracked case and has not appeared as a plaintiff. This pattern is typical for large technology companies that are targets of patent assertion entities. The single case listed was filed by AlmondNet, Inc. in 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
The tracked litigation, AlmondNet, Inc. et al. v. Oath Holdings Inc. (Yahoo! Inc.), is notable for its procedural history. Following the Supreme Court's 2017 decision in TC Heartland, which narrowed the scope of proper venue in patent cases, Oath successfully challenged the E.D.N.Y. as an improper venue. After a Federal Circuit ruling in its favor, the case was transferred to the District of Delaware. The name "Oath Holdings Inc." itself represents a specific period in the company's history when Verizon attempted to merge the cultures and technologies of former internet rivals AOL and Yahoo.
Originally filed in the Eastern District of New York, this case was transferred to the District of Delaware. The case was ultimately terminated via a reported voluntary dismissal.