Twitter buys 900 patents from IBM to avoid potential patent battles

Twitter has acquired over 900 patents from IBM, a move likely intended to settle IBM’s claims that Twitter was infringing on at least three of its patents. IBM said Friday that Twitter acquired the patents in December, and that the companies had entered into a patent cross-license agreement covering other technologies that might be shared between the firms.

Twitter Inc, the microblogging service that went public last year, agreed to buy 900 patents from International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) to gain access to new technology and build a defense against infringement suits. The agreement, signed last month and announced today, also resolves a dispute that prompted IBM to write to Twitter last year about possible infringement of at least three patents. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The purchase “provides us with greater intellectual property protection and gives us freedom of action to innovate on behalf of all those who use our service,” Ben Lee, legal director for Twitter, said in a statement.