AOL-Microsoft deal includes "Google-like" patents
09 April 2012
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Karen Bolipata, New York
AOL’s $1.06 billion patent deal with Microsoft comes as no surprise following other recent blockbuster deals - but what will Microsoft do with the patents, and who will be next?
The deal, announced today, will hand over more than 800 AOL patents to Microsoft and licences to an additional 300.
The 800 patents have not been disclosed, though the remaining 300 relate to advertising, search, content generation, social networking, mapping and multimedia/streaming technologies, according to AOL.
IP analysist are especially interested by those 300 patents. Art Monk, vice president of UBM TechInsights, commented: “Sounds very Google-like, doesn’t it?” In a statement on the deal, Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel and executive vice president, legal and corporate affairs, said the company has been following the portfolio for years and analysing it in detail for several months. "AOL ran a competitive auction and by participating, Microsoft was...
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