A new report says Facebook has acquired 750 patents from computer-systems giant IBM. The news comes shortly afterYahoo sued Facebook for patent infringement over 10 of its software patents.
A “person with knowledge of the transaction” tipped the news, though the deal hasn’t been made public yet.
Compared to other tech companies, Facebook’s arsenal of patents is rather meager: The company has just 56 patents compared with the thousands stockpiled by the likes of Microsoft and Apple.
However, the report says, Facebook has applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for at least 500 more. Apparently it didn’t want to wait for those to be approved and chose to take a shortcut in stocking up its patent portfolio.
The lawsuit from Yahoo, which has recently had a wholesale change in management and is expected to announce layoffs, likely provided the motivation.
Source: Mashable
