Facebook is being sued by Chicago-based website Timelines.com for trademark infringement and redirection of the aforementioned company's Facebook page to the social network's new Timeline feature.
Timelines.com claims that Facebook's use of the word Timeline will cause confusion and ultimately lead to the demise of their business. The site allows users to create virtual timelines based on historical events such as famous deaths and great sports moments.
Timelines.com also accused the social network of redirecting their Facebook page to Facebook's new Timeline feature page instead. Facebook admitted that this was an error and has since corrected the issue.
Timelines.com was seeking a restraining order against Facebook but US federal court judge Edmond Chang has refused to grant one. Instead, Facebook is delaying the public release of Timeline until the company has a chance to make a more detailed argument to another federal judge, says paidContent.
Although the service hasn't gone live to the general public yet, Facebook already has 1.1 million "developers" using Timeline, according to court records. Roughly 100,000 to 200,000 new users are signing up each day, likely regular members who are signing up for developer accounts to access the feature immediately.
Timelines' Facebook profile has since been littered with disgruntled Facebook users who believe the company is out to get their 15 minutes of fame and a quick payday from the social networking giant. Interestingly enough, prior to October 1, Timelines' Facebook page was last updated on June 14.