Meta Wins Lawsuit Against Photo Software Application Startup Phhhoto in the US

A US judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc that alleged its Facebook social media business drove a now-defunct photo software application startup out of business in violation of federal antitrust law.

US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn, New York, federal court said in her 67-page order that Phhhoto Inc had failed to timely bring its claims under relevant US antitrust law that sets a four-year window and under New York state competition provisions that have a three-year statute of limitation.

"Phhhoto has failed in its 69-page amended complaint of 222 paragraphs to allege sufficient facts that cure the untimeliness of all of its federal claims," Matsumoto wrote. She said, "no exception applies to toll the limitations periods."

The court declined to allow Phhhoto to fine-tune its case and bring another complaint.

Lawyers for Phhhoto at plaintiffs' firm Hausfeld did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Thursday.

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson described the suit as "meritless."

Phhhoto launched in 2014, providing an app that said it "created a five-frame, looping video." Meta two years earlier had acquired photo-sharing app Instagram for $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,820 crore).

Phhhoto's lawsuit, filed in 2021, alleged Facebook aimed to "crush" the photo-sharing application, which called itself in court filings "an innovative nascent competitor."

"Meta used its control of critical infrastructure to degrade the quality of Phhhoto's content and the performance of its app, as well as to mislead and harm consumers," Phhhoto's attorneys told the court.

Facebook denied any anticompetitive conduct.

The case was among several actions accusing Facebook of violating competition law.

Facebook is defending against claims from the US Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., federal court that the company abused its personal social networking dominance.

© Thomson Reuters 2023