Twin brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who were asked by a federal court last month to end their dispute with Facebook, have been reportedly denied the permission to make their case to the entire Ninth Circuit.
The twin brothers have accused Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for Facebook. They say that they had hired Zuckerberg to code their ConnectU site in 2003 after which he stole the idea and founded Facebook.
In 2008, Facebook agreed to a settlement with the brothers but did not admit to their claims that Zuckerberg had stolen their idea. In the deal, the brothers received $20m in cash and $45m worth of stock valued at $36 per share in the deal.
The settlement is now worth more than $160m. In their fresh application, last month, seeking re-opening of the case, the brothers had alleged that they were misled about Facebook’s value when they agreed to the 2008 settlement.
Last month, a federal court had ruled in favour of Zuckerberg, denying the Winklevoss brothers to re-open the $65m legal settlement signed in 2008.
A week later, the twin brothers sought permission to make their case to the entire Ninth Circuit, which the court rejected, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
