Internet giant Yahoo! filed an overblown lawsuit against popular social network Facebook.

According to the lawsuit filed by Yahoo!, "Facebook's entire social network model, which allows users to create profile for and connect with, among other things, persons and businesses, is based on Yahoo's patented social networking technology."

The claims include Facebook's popular News Feed, advertising methods, privacy settings and more. Yahoo! claimed that Facebook has been "free riding" on Yahoo's intellectual property and that royalty payments will not be enough. The 19-page lawsuit published by AllThingsD enumerates 10 patents that are related to advertising, privacy, customization, messaging and social networking.

Yahoo! is operating under new CEO Scott Thompson.

"Yahoo! has invested substantial resources in research and development through the years, which has resulted in numerous patented inventions of technology that other companies have licensed. These technologies are the foundation of our business that engages over 700 million monthly unique visitors and represent the spirit of innovation upon which Yahoo! is built. Unfortunately, the matter with Facebook remains unresolved and we are compelled to seek redress in federal court. We are confident that we will prevail," Yahoo! said in a statement.

Facebook answered the statement by Yahoo! and said that the company is puzzled by the latter's actions. According to its recent statement about the issue, "we're disappointed that Yahoo, a longtime business partner of Facebook and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with Facebook, has decided to resort to litigation. Once again, we learned of Yahoo's decision simultaneously with the media. We will defend ourselves vigorously against these puzzling actions."

Patent lawsuits are prevalent among tech companies in order to seek advantage in a rapidly changing tech industry. Companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple are engaged in various legal battles over patent infringements.