Facebook Buying $550 Million In Patents From AOL
AOL is on a patent selling tear, earlier this month the company sold 925 patents to Microsoft for nearly $1 billion and now the company is preparing to sell social network Facebook 650 patents for a cost of $550 million.
As part of the deal Facebook will not only gain new AOL patents but also receive licensed access to Microsoft’s portion of the portfolio.
According to Facebook’s official announcement Microsoft receives 275 AOL patents, plus licenses to Facebook’s AOL patents and 300 more patents that AOL didn’t sell.
A rep for Microsoft said of the agreement:
“Today’s agreement with Facebook enables us to recoup over half of our costs while achieving our goals from the AOL auction.”
A Facebook rep added that the purchase is:
“Another significant step in our ongoing process of building an intellectual property portfolio to protect Facebook’s interests over the long term.”
The move once again shows the importance of stockpiling patents in a tech space that has recently become a giant intellectual property lawsuit in which tech firms sue one another repeatedly to gain control of additional revenue and block competition in some extreme cases.
Do you think the U.S. patent system is in need of an overhaul to avoid an all out patent war in which even the most basic of ideas are patented on a first come first served basis?
Comments
About the Author
James Johnson James is a new media professional with more than half a decade worth of experience in the online writing space. He currently serves as the Associate Editor of Inquisitr.com and the Editor-in-Chief of SocialNewsDaily.com. He also serves as a resident writer for Splash Press Media. In his spare time James consults businesses regarding SEO and Content Development.
Related Posts
The Rise And Glorification Of Stupid In Our Social Media World →
The NYPD Now Allowed To Use Fake Accounts On Facebook For Investigations →
Apparently One Third Of US Population Says “No” To Using Twitter And Facebook For Signing On →
Pingback: Yahoo Claims Facebook Purchased Patents To “Retaliate” After Lawsuit Was Filed
Pingback: Lying On Facebook? Survey Says Nearly Everyone Is Doing It