German site sued by Facebook: claims without merit

BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Facebook has filed a copyright infringement suit against a German counterpart on Friday, but the latter said on Sunday it asked a German court to declare that Facebook's claims are without merit, according to media reports.

; Facebook accuses studiVZ of "copying the look, feel, features and services" of it and seeks "to end StudiVZ's illegal activity," according to the complaint filed in California.

StudiVZ claims Facebook is suing them only because Facebook has failed to transplant its success in the United States and other countries to the German market.

"Their strategy appears to be: 'If you can't beat them, sue them,'" said Marcus Riecke, chief executive of studiVZ, which is owned by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, a German publishing company.

According to StudiVZ's site, the Berlin-based company has 10 million users. The site was purchased last year by German publisher Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck.

Facebook launched its own German language version in March.

(Agencies)