Judge ends Winklevoss legal case against Facebook

A US court has ruled that the Winklevoss twins, who worked with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg on early social networking software, cannot continue legal action against the company.

The pair, and a third complainant Divya Narendra, worked with Zuckerberg to set up a social network for Harvard students named ConnectU. They have since claimed that Zuckerberg stole their idea for a university-based social network and should pay compensation.

Facebook settled with the trio for $65m in 2008, but the Winklevoss twins have sought to review the settlement in light of Facebook's increased market value.

However, a unanimous ruling by the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals looks to have shut down further legal action.

"At some point, litigation must come to an end," chief justice Alex Kozinksi wrote for the three-judge panel, Associated Press reports. "That point has now been reached."

The court ruled that the Winklevoss twins, recently portrayed in the film The Social Network, could not reopen proceedings since they were aware of the popularity of the site before they made the 2008 deal.

The twins claimed to have been been informed that Facebook was worth $35.90 a share following an investment from Microsoft, but said that Facebook valued its own shares at $8.88 for tax purposes.

Even with this ruling, the twins stand to make $160m from the original settlement based on Facebook's current unofficial valuation.