With Friend-Finders Like These, Facebook May Find Itself Sued

According to one company, Facebook stole the idea for the geo-based Find Friends Nearby, a new feature that helps people discover and locate new acquaintances.

 

Facebook’s new feature that helps users discover who’s around them is a stolen idea, according to a company that’s been offering a similar service for the past year.

The chief executive at Friendthem, a service that shows users others who are nearby based on geo-location, says that his company got there first, and even discussed the idea with a company executive earlier this year.

“I was amazed on Sunday to read that Facebook is blatantly stealing our idea with what they are calling, ‘Find Friends Nearby,’ Charles Sankowich, Friendthem’s CEO said in a statement e-mailed to CNET and other outlets today.

“Facebook engineer Ryan Patterson claims the feature was born at a hackathon as ‘Friendshake,’ but we believe they simply stole trademarked materials of Friendthem.com,” he added.

In an interview with CNET, Sankowich said that he discussed what his company did with an unnamed, high-level executive at a dinner in February, with that person later telling him “I really like your idea.” Sankowich says he followed up with that same person immediately after Facebook acquired Glancee — another geo-based social discovery tool — but that his correspondence went unanswered.

The new feature in question, which was first spotted by tech blog TechCrunch, launched quietly yesterday on Facebook’s mobile application. It uses location to figure out what other Facebook users are around you, all in the hopes that users can extend their social connections.

That idea, of course, is not a new one. Geo-focused social networks began cropping up several years ago, in step with a burgeoning crop of GPS-enabled smartphones. That trend could most recently be seen in the launch of Highlight at the South by Southwest Interactive show this past March. Much like Facebook’s new feature, it’s designed to show you who’s nearby and how you might be connected.

But when it comes to pure peer-to-peer discovery, Sankowich says his company got to this particular idea first, and will take aim at Facebook with a lawsuit. However, he would not go into details about the company’s legal strategy, or what it will seek out from that complaint.

“I’m not looking to exploit this for money,” Sankowich said. “I know how valuable, and important our idea is. And we’ve worked really really hard to brand ourselves and to market ourselves.”

CNET has reached out to Facebook for comment. We’ll update this story when we hear back.