A jury in Texas ordered Meta to pay $174 million in damages after finding it guilty of violating two live-streaming patents.
The patents in question were developed by Tom Katis, a US Army veteran who was in a combat unit that was attacked in Kunar Province. The transmission of live voice and video communications was made possible by new technology developed by Katis and his team. The Walkie Talkie app was released in 2011.
Meta was interested in collaborating after the launch of Walkie Talkie.
After the launch of the app, Meta approached Voxer and by February 2012 the company had disclosed its patent portfolio and proprietary technology to Meta. Meta had no live video or voice product of its own when it failed to reach an agreement with the other company. The key components of the Facebook platform were revoked by Meta after they were accused of being a bully. In the last two years, Facebook Live andInstagram Live have been launched.
According to court documents, the senior product manager of Facebook Live refused to enter an agreement with Meta regarding its continued use of the technology.
A running royalty of $174,530,785 will be paid out by the jury after they unanimously decided on the case. The decision will be appealed. The company believes the evidence at trial shows that Meta did not violate the patents. We intend to file an appeal.
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