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Microsoft is buying the majority of AOL's patents in a deal worth $1.06bn (�668m). A statement said the agreement covers the intellectual property rights to more than 800 innovations. Microsoft will also be granted licensing rights to about 300 patents that AOL is keeping. It is the latest in a series of such deals as technology firms act to bolster their chances in related lawsuits. If a company successfully sues another it can demand a sales ban of its competitor's products, or force the loser to pay expensive licence fees. Since the start of the year Intel, Google and Facebook are among those to have bought significant numbers of patent from other tech companies.