Overview

AOL's sale of 800 patents to Microsoft for $1 billion dollars has echoes of Google's acquisition of Motorola for $12.5 billion. Both transactions involved companies that had been losers in recent years in the competitive world of modern media and high technology. Both also involved companies that appreciate the importance and value of holding strong portfolios of intellectual property.

ENS's Chris Bull looks at whether these two developments signify the beginnings of a modern-day gold rush or a merely a 'patent bubble'.

To read on, click 'View Briefing'.