Success for StudiVZ – court dismisses plagiarism lawsuit filed by Facebook

Stuttgart – Cologne Regional Court has dismissed Facebook's action against StudiVZ Ltd. (Holtzbrinck Group). US-based Facebook Ltd. had accused social networking provider StudiVZ of copying its website.

A team led by Dr Klaus Ikas, partner at CMS Hasche Sigle and an expert on intellectual property, advised StudiVZ on the case.

Facebook's case rested on the allegation that StudiVZ (studiVZ, schuelerVZ, meinVZ) unlawfully obtained source code for the Facebook website and used it to illegally clone the site, including copying the design and functions. As such, it had behaved anticompetitively and violated copyright and trademark rights, said Facebook, demanding that the StudiVZ websites be shut down. The Regional Court disagreed and also rejected the claim for compensation.

Advisers CMS Hasche Sigle:

Dr Klaus Ikas, Intellectual Property
Dr Axel Funk, Technology, Media, Telecommunications

Contact:

Dr Klaus Ikas
Tel.: +49 711 9764 204
E-mail: Klaus.Ikas@cms-hs.com