Facebook filed an intellectual-property lawsuit in California Friday claiming that German social network StudiVZ copied its look, feel, features and services. With more than 10 million customers, StudiVZ is the most popular social network in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Comparisons of Facebook and StudiVZ show striking similarities in layout, operate and profile, with only minor differences. Some users have commented it is just “Facebook in German.” The Facebook lawsuit plus says knockoffs of its site may not perform well, and thereby damage the image of the original.

A significant difference amoung StudiVZ and Facebook, however, is the segregation of various audiences in the StudiVZ realm: it offers separate sites for students and nonstudents.

Critics allege the social-networking sites are identical except for their color and language — Facebook is blue, while StudiVZ is red.

Sour Grapes?

Facebook showed interest in acquiring the German site last year, but it was scooped up by the German publishing group Georg

von Holtzbrinck for more than $100 million in January 2007.

Marcus Riecke, CEO of StudiVZ, commented Monday, “Now that Facebook, despite trying hard, has not been successful in the German market, the company seeks to obstruct StudiVZ through court action. Their strategy appears to be: whether you can’t beat them, sue them.”

that isn’t Facebook’s only overseas competitor — China’s Xiaonei, looking much like the U.S. company’s site, even trumpets that it is the “Facebook of China.” But with a rumored $400 million in its coffers, Facebook may have to think twice about pursuing them. Xianonei has even more subscribers and page views than StudiVZ.

Merits of the Suit

“Look and feel” lawsuits have met with mixed results in the past in the U.S. In the 1980s Lotus successfully stopped competitors from copying the user interface of its spreadsheet program, while Apple fought Microsoft to a draw by the look and…

Orginal post by Mike

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