ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The global law firm Fish & Richardson has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in a Virginia federal court on behalf of Rembrandt Social Media LP based on claims that Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ : FB ) and Add This Inc. used two Rembrandt patents without permission to help build the world's largest social media web site.

"We believe Rembrandt's patents represent an important foundation of social media as we know it, and we expect a judge and jury to reach the same conclusion based on the evidence," says attorney Tom Melsheimer, counsel for Rembrandt and managing principal of Fish & Richardson's Dallas office.

Rembrandt Social Media, an affiliate of Rembrandt IP Management LLC, filed the lawsuit Feb. 5, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The lawsuit says Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook has infringed two Rembrandt patents, U.S. Patent No. 6,415,316 and No. 6,289,362. Vienna, Va.-based social media company Add This Inc. is accused of infringing the '362 patent. Both patents originally were issued to inventor "Jos" van der Meer more than 10 years ago.

Fish & Richardson is a global law firm providing strategic counseling and litigation services to innovative clients who seek to protect and maximize the value of their intellectual property (IP). Founded in 1878, Fish's early clients included Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and the Wright Brothers. The firm has more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists practicing IP strategy and counseling, IP litigation, and commercial litigation. Fish is consistently singled out for its superior technical expertise and great results and has been named the top patent litigation firm in the country for nine consecutive years, the number one IP firm for America's biggest companies, and an elite top-tier law practice. For more information, visit www.fr.com or follow @fishrichardson on Twitter.

For more information on the lawsuit, please contact Bruce Vincent at 800-559-4534 or bruce@androvett.com.

SOURCE Fish & Richardson