Facebook announced at present that it will spend $550 million to Microsoft for the right to 650 patents and patent purposes.
Microsoft company acquired those patents and consequently numerous others in a bargain with AOL earlier this 30 days.
The news was publicized on Facebook’s website.
The drift transpires as Facebook wades deeper into the waters of patent litigation even as it readies for an IPO expected in May. The social network is in a significant patent lawsuit with Yahoo and is furthermore wrestling with a large number of smaller patent suits.
As tech companies grow, it will be common for them to search out patent portfolios as a sort of self defense against additional technology behemoths.
The Facebook purchase is very compelling, however, while it suggests a deepening strategic alliance between Facebook and also Microsoft. The later was an early investor in the social network and both providers have familiar competitors in Google or Apple.
Microsoft company acquired 925 AOL patents or patent applications in a public sale for $1 billion. Shortly after, reports stated that Facebook had been an ineffective bidder in the sale.
Microsoft’s profitable offer furthermore gave it a license to 300 additional patents that AOL still owns. Today’s announcement claimed that Facebook too will have a license to those 300 patents — suggesting that Microsoft obtained a right to sub-license the 300 patents to particular additional parties (like Facebook) Upgrade – After some initial confusion, a Facebook spokesperson verified that Facebook will only possess a license to the patents owned outright by Microsoft that it did not actually purchase–275 patents–as opposed to the three hundred patents still acquired by AOL that it is licensing to Microsoft.
It is usually questionable how Facebook will use the patent portfolio in the near futre. Asked if Facebook may use it to sue other companies, a spokesperson said:
“We think that litigation over patents is a replacement for innovation. We believe in innovation.”
The spokesman additionally declared Facebook or myspace was at all intrigued by Twitter’s announcement last 1 week that it sign legal agreements with their technicians in which the organisation promised not to utilize patents in an offensive fashion.
Facebook might not elaborate on the design of the patents it purchased. Records have said that the 300 patents which AOL retained (and also Facebook currently is licensing) are related to imaging. If the reports are truthful, imaging patents would be important to Facebook in light of their $1 billion purchase of photo-sharing site Intagram.
Microsoft company acquired those patents and consequently numerous others in a bargain with AOL earlier this 30 days.
The news was publicized on Facebook’s website.
The drift transpires as Facebook wades deeper into the waters of patent litigation even as it readies for an IPO expected in May. The social network is in a significant patent lawsuit with Yahoo and is furthermore wrestling with a large number of smaller patent suits.
As tech companies grow, it will be common for them to search out patent portfolios as a sort of self defense against additional technology behemoths.
The Facebook purchase is very compelling, however, while it suggests a deepening strategic alliance between Facebook and also Microsoft. The later was an early investor in the social network and both providers have familiar competitors in Google or Apple.
Microsoft company acquired 925 AOL patents or patent applications in a public sale for $1 billion. Shortly after, reports stated that Facebook had been an ineffective bidder in the sale.
Microsoft’s profitable offer furthermore gave it a license to 300 additional patents that AOL still owns. Today’s announcement claimed that Facebook too will have a license to those 300 patents — suggesting that Microsoft obtained a right to sub-license the 300 patents to particular additional parties (like Facebook) Upgrade – After some initial confusion, a Facebook spokesperson verified that Facebook will only possess a license to the patents owned outright by Microsoft that it did not actually purchase–275 patents–as opposed to the three hundred patents still acquired by AOL that it is licensing to Microsoft.
It is usually questionable how Facebook will use the patent portfolio in the near futre. Asked if Facebook may use it to sue other companies, a spokesperson said:
“We think that litigation over patents is a replacement for innovation. We believe in innovation.”
The spokesman additionally declared Facebook or myspace was at all intrigued by Twitter’s announcement last 1 week that it sign legal agreements with their technicians in which the organisation promised not to utilize patents in an offensive fashion.
Facebook might not elaborate on the design of the patents it purchased. Records have said that the 300 patents which AOL retained (and also Facebook currently is licensing) are related to imaging. If the reports are truthful, imaging patents would be important to Facebook in light of their $1 billion purchase of photo-sharing site Intagram.
