Microsoft to sell part of AOL patents to Facebook

News Broadband United States 24 APR 2012
Microsoft to sell part of AOL patents to Facebook
Microsoft announced a deal to sell part of the patent portfolio it recently acquired from AOL to Facebook. Microsoft agreed earlier this month to buy 925 patents and patent applications from AOL for USD 1.1 billion and also secured a licence to AOL's remaining patent portfolio. Facebook will buy 650 of the AOL patents and patent applications, plus a licence to the AOL patents that Microsoft will own, for a total USD 550 million cash. Microsoft will hold on to 275 of the AOL patents and also receive a licence on the patents acquired by Facebook.

Categories:

Internet

Companies:

AOL,  Microsoft,  Facebook

Countries:

United States

Tags:

Portals / social media, Advertising services, Corporate strategy, M&A buyouts & divestments, Research and development

Related Articles

UNITED STATES 27 AUG 2012

AOL to pay out USD 1.1 bln to shareholders

AOL confirmed it will pay out USD 1.1 billion shareholders before the end of the year, from the proceeds of its patent sale to Microsoft. The company has signed an agreement with Barclays to complete the bulk of a USD 600 million accelerated share repurchase programme by year-end. It will also pay a one-time dividend of USD 5.15 per share to shareholders in December. AOL agreed in April to sell the patents to Microsoft and completed the deal in June. Microsoft will sell the majority of the patents on to Fac

UNITED STATES 25 JUL 2012

AOL Q2 results boosted by patents sale

AOL reported second-quarter revenues down 2 percent from a year earlier to USD 531.1 million. Advertising sales rose 6 percent to USD 337.8 million, while the internet access business posted revenues down 13 percent to USD 175.5 million. The fall in internet subscribers slowed to 12 percent, with churn at 1.7 percent. The total base numbered 3.031 million at end-June. AOL's adjusted OIBDA more than doubled, to USD 168.6 million from USD 76.6 million a year ago, thanks to USD 96 million from its patent licen

GLOBAL 24 APR 2012

Facebook profit drops, revenue growth slows in Q1

Facebook reported a fall in net profit in the first quarter, to USD 205 million from USD 233 million a year earlier, due a strong increase in operating costs as the company grew its workforce and invested in data centres. Revenues continued higher, to USD 1.06 billion from USD 731 million, the company said in an amended IPO filing with the SEC. The social network's cash balance was little changed compared to the end of 2011, at USD 3.9 billion. The number of active users, who have accessed the site in the p

UNITED STATES 24 APR 2012

Microsoft verkoopt deel AOL-patenten aan Facebook

Microsoft maakt bekend een blok patenten aan Facebook te verkopen voor 550 miljoen dollar (417,5 miljoen euro). Het gaat om 800 patenten en 300 licenties op patenten die Microsoft recent voor 1,06 miljard dollar (804 miljoen euro) overnam van internetconcern AOL. Facebook zou volgens Bloomberg hebben meegeboden op de AOL-patenten. De sociale netwerksite krijgt nu alsnog 650 patenten en aanvragen voor patenten in handen, evenals licenties voor een aantal door Microsoft overgenomen patenten. Microsoft had eer

GLOBAL 9 APR 2012

AOL sells patents to Microsoft for USD 1.1 bln

AOL announced a deal to sell over 800 of its patents to Microsoft for USD 1.056 billion cash. The agreement follows a competitive auction of the intellectual property and includes a non-exclusive licence to Microsoft for AOL's remaining portfolio of over 300 patents. In addition, AOL will continue to have access to the sold patents through a licensing deal with Microsoft. AOL said it plans to give a significant portion of the proceeds to shareholders, which pro forma for cash at the end of 2011, should equa

GLOBAL 4 APR 2012

Facebook files counterclaim against Yahoo!

Facebook has filed a countersuit against Yahoo! alleging infringement of 10 of the social network's patents. Yahoo! sued Facebook last month, alleging that Facebook had infringed 10 Yahoo! patents related to online advertising, website customization and communications. Facebook filed its counterclaim in US District Court in San Francisco, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some of the patents asserted by Facebook date from the company's early days, while others were assigned to it as recently as last month, a

GLOBAL 23 MRT 2012

Facebook acquires patents from IBM

Facebook acquired 750 patents from IBM, adding intellectual property that may help it counter allegations of patent infringement, a person with knowledge of the transaction told Bloomberg. The patents cover various technologies such as software and networking. Yahoo! sued Facebook earlier this month, accusing it of infringing patents covering critical website functions. Facebook may have paid "hundreds of millions of dollars" for the IBM patents, said Erin-Michael Gill, an intellectual property analyst at M

GLOBAL 13 MRT 2012

Yahoo! files patent infringement suit against Facebook

Yahoo! filed a lawsuit against Facebook, accusing it of infringing 10 patents tied to an array of web technologies. According to the lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in San Jose, California, Yahoo contended that Facebook had knowingly and improperly violated some of the company's core intellectual properties, the New York Times reports. The patents, which were issued from 1999 to 2010, cover advertising, privacy, customization, social networking and messaging. Last month, Yahoo warned Facebook that

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.