4. Multiple Yahoo services infringe on this particular patent as claimed by Facebook which involves a method of fetching information based on a user’s past interaction patterns.

U.S. Patent No: 6,216,133

“Method for enabling a user to fetch a specific information item from a set of information items, and a system for carrying out such a method”

Filed: May 30, 1996

Granted: April 10, 2001

Abstract: A user of a system comprising a large set of information items, for example a multimedia database, is assisted by an agent in searching the set. The agent has a given affinity for the information items and selects a specific information item from the set in conformity with said affinity. On the basis of the interactions between the user and the system an image is formed of the affinity of the user for the information items. The agent utilizes this image, in addition to its own affinity, for the selection of a specific information item. A major application of the invention concerns a system in which the information items are presented as objects in a space and in which the agent guides the user through the space and proposes a specific object to the user.