Facebook buys AOL patents from Microsoft
Facebook has confirmed that it has agreed to purchase a portion of AOL patents from Microsoft, a move that is expected to strengthen the social-networking firm's position against Yahoo in the intellectual property battle.
The world's biggest social network will purchase 650 of the AOL patents and patent applications in a $550 million deal. Microsoft will retain 275 AOL patents. The software giant had acquired the patents from AOL auction.
The software giant will also keep hold of licenses for three hundred additional patents that have been retained by AOL.
Facebook and Microsoft have also agreed to provide access to each other's holdings through licenses.
It is worth-mentioning here that Microsoft owns roughly 1.6 per cent stake in Facebook, which claims to have around 900 million active monthly users.
Describing the deal as "important", Facebook's general counsel Ted Ullyot said, "This is another significant step in our ongoing process of building an intellectual property portfolio to protect Facebook's interests over the long term."
The $550 million acquisition marks Facebook's second-largest transaction, after the $1 billion purchase of Instagram.
