Instagram sued over geo-location feature
Miami-based UnitedCorp has taken on photo-sharing platform Instagram in a patent infringement lawsuit filed at the Federal Court of Canada.
According to an announcement released on Friday, February 2, UnitedCorp owns Canadian patent number 2,887,596, called “User content sharing system and method with automated external content integration”.
The patent covers a system for sharing digital content, such as photographs, which lets the users apply the geographical location where the image was taken. For example, if the user is in Toronto and takes a picture of the city, they will have the option of including a footer informing people where they are.
The ‘596 patent was invented by UnitedCorp president Benoit Laliberté and was licensed to Canada-based smartphone app developer iFramed, before it was acquired by UnitedCorp.
Photo-sharing app Instagram has a feature called ‘Geostickers’, which allows users to apply a virtual sticker to images, letting people know where the picture was taken.
UnitedCorp said that Instagram has infringed its ‘596 patent through the use of the ‘Geostickers’ feature, and that Instagram’s activities have caused and are continuing to cause ongoing harm to UnitedCorp.
The Miami-based company is seeking damages and a permanent injunction against Instagram.
Last year, WIPR reported that UnitedCorp had sent an enforcement letter to Instagram, as well as Facebook, informing the social media platforms that their location-related features infringe on the ‘596 patent.
At the time, Laliberté said: “Both Facebook and Instagram take IP seriously and provide their users with tools and resources to protect what they own.
“Now that they are aware of the iFramed patent, we hope that they will act just as responsibly. Going forward we will give them every opportunity to be able to use the technology legally.”
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