PALO ALTO, Calif. — May 22, 2009 — Think Computer Corporation and Facebook® announced today that they have settled all outstanding claims, including all of Think’s claims related to Facebook’s registered trademarks.
On January 10, 2006, the USPTO issued U.S. Registration No. 3,041,791 to Facebook for the mark “FACEBOOK.” On July 25, 2006, the USPTO issued a second registration (No. 3,122,052) to Facebook. In April 2008, Think filed a petition to cancel the ‘052 registration. In March 2009, Think filed a petition to cancel the ‘791 registration. In the settlement, Think agrees to abandon its petitions to cancel the registrations.
Think’s CEO and founder, Aaron Greenspan, attended Harvard with Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2002-2004, where both were entrepreneurially minded programmers. Starting in August 2003, Think released a web based student portal called houseSYSTEM through a Harvard student group. This software was designed to make life easier for students, faculty, and alumni. By September 2003, houseSYSTEM featured a section (devised and implemented by Greenspan) called “The Universal Face Book” (sometimes called “The Face Book”).
Think’s system contained a number of features, including a course scheduler, student marketplace, email service, automatic birthday reminder, message boards, photo album, digital flyer advertising, event calendar (with online RSVP’s), map integration, job placement, and local business reviews. At launch, houseSYSTEM did not feature member profiles due to campus security concerns. Profiles were added after Zuckerberg launched Facebook in February 2004, along with new features, allowing friends to record the way they had met and noting the strength of their relationships.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, said “Aaron and I studied together at Harvard and I’ve always admired his entrepreneurial spirit and love of building things. I appreciate his hard work and innovation that led to building houseSYSTEM, including the Universal Face Book feature. At school, I was even a member of houseSYSTEM. We are pleased that we’ve been able to amicably resolve our differences.”
Aaron Greenspan, founder and CEO of Think, said “I am glad that my contributions have been recognized by Facebook. Mark has built a tremendous company at Facebook, and I wish them continued success in the future.”