Facebook Buys $40 Million Friendster Patents

Facebook has quietly protected its dominant position in social networking by buying the Friendster portfolio of patents from MOL Global.

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

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