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"Mobile app Friendthem has announced its intentions to sue Facebook for its just-launched mobile feature, Find Friends Nearby, if it confirms certain \"information.\"\nCEO of Friendthem Charles Sankowich says he told a senior Facebook executive about his idea in February, to use smartphones' GPS signal to track friends and potential new friends nearby.\n\"Friendthem is something special and we could be one of the most important apps for Facebook in a long time,\" Sankowich told Mashable. \"When the world understands how important our message is, Friendthem could be one of the most important apps out there, so I don't know why they're going around us to do this.\"\nFollowing his dinner with the Facebook executive who Sankowich declined to name, the Friendthem CEO says the Facebook executive said, \"I really like this idea.\"\nThough Facebook says the idea came from a company hackathon and was originally called Friendshake, Sankowich doesn't believe the claim.\n\nSEE ALSO: Facebook\u2019s Facial-Recognition Acquisition Raises Privacy Concerns\n\"They have to know about Friendthem unless they've had their heads in the sand,\" he says. \"We're relevant, we're necessary and we're fun.\"\nFriendthem's attorney Les Apple told Mashable, \"We will proceed with a lawsuit as soon as we confirm the information we have, but we don't want to do things irresponsibly.\"\nAvailable for Android and iOS, Friendthem connects to your Facebook account to find people near you. You can chose what information, such as your name, profile picture, hometown, or nothing at all, you would like to share.\nAccording to its website, \"Friendthem is a location-based mobile app designed to help you make connections with people near you. Use the Friendthem app to follow up on missed connections for work and personal.\"\nSankowich trademarked the term Friendthem in early 2011, half a year after launching. He has three additional trademarks pending for the slogans, \"life happens, people connect;\" \"life happens when you connect;\" and \"you never know what a friend request can lead to.\"\nDoes Find Friends Nearby sound too similar to Friendthem? Let us know what you think.\nUPDATE 6/26: Facebook quietly pulled the mobile feature, possibly as a result of the lawsuit.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, ymgerman"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/06/25/friendthem-sue-facebook/>