Facebook to settle lawsuit on its origins

Even as its founder Mark Zuckerberg has ascended to #785 on the Forbes List, the company has been dooged by questions -- and a lawsuit -- about its origins.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who are twins and founders of the site ConnectU, accused the Facebook founder of stealing their idea, and sued him for fraud, copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets. Facebook denied the allegations, but the litigation cast somewhat of a shadow of the company.

Now the New York Times is reporting that "a person briefed on the status of dueling lawsuits between Facebook and the competing site ConnectU said on Sunday that Facebook was finalizing a settlement with the founders of ConnectU ... A Facebook spokeswoman said the company would not comment on legal matters. But the person briefed on the status of the negotiations said motions to dismiss the cases are expected to be filed "within weeks."

Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently lost its director of social media to Facebook, and the company's IPO is one of the most anticipated events in Web 2.0, although the company has not yet made any moves to take itself public. The resolution of this lawsuit, a source of some uncertainty, is an important step in moving toward a public offering.