The twin brothers who have been suing Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg for theft of intellectual property have decided not to take their case to the US Supreme Court, instead accepting a settlement offered to them back in 2008.
The Winklevoss brothers, Cameron and Tyler, originally alleged that Zuckerberg had stolen the idea for the popular social networking site from them. They claimed that whilst working on a similar social networking application for Harvard University students and alumni, Zuckerberg launched his own version, Facebook, illegally using the source code from their project.
After filing an intellectual property theft lawsuit against Zuckerberg in 2004, the Winklevoss business partners were eventually offered a settlement worth a reported $65 million in 2008. At the time, the rejected the offer, claiming that Facebook misrepresented the value of the stock which formed part of the settlement.
The latest development in the case has seen the brothers finally accept the 2008 offer, which is now reportedly worth around $150 million due to increases in the value of Facebook stock.
No stranger to lawsuits, Facebook is likely to have had sound professional indemnity insurance in place for this case. This cover may also come in handy for another lawsuit, filed against Zuckerberg by Paul Ceglia, who asserts that he has a claim to a large share of the social networking company.