A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed the deal - which covers seven patents and 11 pending patent applications - to VentureBeat, but didn’t disclose terms. GigaOm reports that the deal was valued at $40 million and included a combination of advertising, a partnership for payments for virtual goods, and cash.
MOL bought Friendster, which is still popular in parts of South-East Asia, for $39.5 million last year. MOL is a payment partner for Facebook Credits, allowing users in Asia to buy the virtual currency in retail stores.
The patents are broad and include things like compatibility scoring for users in a social network. They can be viewed online at the US Patent and Trademark Office database.
It’s thought that Facebook is buying the patents mainly as a protective move to prevent potential intellectual property violation claims.
Source: All Facebook
Thursday, August 5, 2010