AOL Sells 800 Patents To Microsoft For $1.1 Billion

Sites include AOL.com , Microsoft.com . Published on April 24th, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

What do you do when you are struggling tech and media company that can’t seem to make enough money in your core business? Why you create a veritable digital garage sale of course, and this is exactly what AOL has done with some of its patents—800 to be exact.

The once giant of Silicon Valley has just inked a deal with Microsoft which will see AOL passing 800 of its patents to Microsoft for a whopping $1.1 billion. The sale is being seen as purely a push to increase the cash position of AOL and perhaps a sign that it is really now moving on from its old way of looking at the world. According to CEO, Tim Armstrong, the company will still hold around 300 patents in “core and strategic technologies”.

If you are wondering how Microsoft got in and was able to buy $1.1 billion worth of patents, be assured that the bid process was fierce and competitive. At least that’s what AOL is saying. According to the company, “the sale to Microsoft came after a competitive auction process”.

The sale will be welcomed by much of AOL shareholders because there has long been talk of the company not realizing value from patents invested in over the years. $1.1 billion will surely go a long way.

Will Microsoft use these new patents to stifle competition? Let us know what you think in the comments below.