AOL agrees to sell over 800 patents to Microsoft

The Wall Street Journal  reports AOL has agreed to sell 800+ patents to Microsoft for $1.1B. Microsoft also gets a nonexclusive license to AOL’s remaining patent portfolio. AOL spokespersons said the agreement was the result of an auction process.

$1.1B is considerably more than the value some analysts had put on the patents just last week, suggesting their was strength in the “communications” area, but the patents were not critical. The auction process has again allowed a patent owner to find a strategic buyer, place that buyer in a competitive bidding situation, and get good value for its IP.