Facebook issued an intellectual property lawsuit against StudiVZ in California in July last year, alleging that the German company had infringed on Facebook's "look, feel, features and services". A second suit was subsequently filed in Germany in November 2008.
As part of the settlement, both companies agreed to withdraw their respective claims in the US and Germany. The agreement also allows both companies to operate their networks unchanged, while both parties have agreed not to disclose any further details.
Facebook's German counterpart claims to have 10 million active members, and is the largest social network in the German-speaking world, covering Germany, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.
The network is actually comprised of three different sites, each one a separate social network aimed at different parts of the market.
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