Defendant
5 cases as defendant.
Yahoo Inc. is a privately held American technology and digital media company founded in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and with a major office in New York City, Yahoo today is majority-owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management (90%), with Verizon Communications retaining a 10% stake. This ownership structure resulted from Apollo's $5 billion acquisition of Verizon Media (which included Yahoo and AOL) in September 2021. While current revenue figures are not public, the company's 2020 revenue was reported as $7.4 billion.
As a pioneering internet company, Yahoo operates a wide range of web-based services. Its portfolio includes well-known consumer products such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, and Yahoo Sports. The company also provides a web search engine and a suite of advertising technology services under the brands Yahoo Ads and Yahoo DSP. Historically, Yahoo's operations were much broader, but under Apollo's ownership, the company has focused on its highest-traffic properties while making strategic acquisitions in areas like AI-driven news and sports betting.
The provided case data, showing three suits as a defendant and one as a plaintiff, suggests Yahoo is primarily an operating company defending its technologies. The company has faced patent infringement suits from entities like Intent IQ, LLC, AlmondNet, Inc., and Gigex, Inc. in various U.S. District Courts. The lawsuits from AlmondNet and its affiliate Intent IQ relate to online advertising technology, a core part of Yahoo's business. Yahoo has also utilized the patent system proactively, as seen in its 2017 petition to challenge a patent held by AlmondNet at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. This mix of defensive litigation and occasional offensive patent challenges is typical for a large, established technology company.
Gigex, Inc. alleged that Yahoo's services for delivering online content and software updates infringed upon the methods described in US Patent 5,768,528. The case was closed following a joint stipulation of dismissal, suggesting a settlement was reached.
This district court case was subject to a related PTAB proceeding (CBM2017-00051) where the defendant, Yahoo!, challenged the validity of the patent.
AlmondNet, Datonics, and Intent IQ sued Yahoo in E.D.N.Y. asserting the '249 patent (claims 1-6, 9-10, 11-16, 19-20, and 21-25) alongside nine other AlmondNet patents, accusing Yahoo Ad Exchange, Yahoo Audience Ads, and BrightRoll. Yahoo moved to dismiss, then withdrew the motion; the case was transferred to the District of Delaware on Dec. 6, 2018 and docketed as AlmondNet, Inc. et al. v. Oath Holdings Inc., No. 1:19-cv-00247-LPS.
'586 expressly asserted in AlmondNet's Rule 3-1 contentions, including claim 1 and claims 2-4, and claim 11 and claims 12, 13, 16, 17, 20-22. Transferred to D. Del. and became the Oath Holdings case.
'307 was among the 10 patents asserted. Prolonged venue fight after TC Heartland; Fed. Cir. mandamus (In re Oath Holdings) directed dismissal or transfer; case transferred to D. Del. and continued as No. 1:19-cv-00247.