QUOTE:

The technology patent arms race is heating up—again.

Microsoft Corp.'s agreement to spend nearly $1.1 billion buying and licensing about 1,100 patents covering some of the Internet's basic plumbing from AOL Inc. spotlights the ongoing boom in spending among tech titans for what amounts to the Internet era's nuclear deterrence.

"This has been a gradual evolution of patents from simple legal assets to strategic financial assets," said Mark Radcliffe, a partner at law firm DLA Piper who specializes in intellectual property.

Companies including Google Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Microsoft have been jockeying to gain legal leverage........

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