'90s web portal Lycos returns to sell its patents
Long before Google and eons ahead of Bing, Lycos was the Internet's search engine. In fact, the company was one of the first to implement spidered web indexing. And while Lycos hasn't made many headlines lately, the company still maintains an impressive portfolio of technology patents. Its patents are wide-ranging enough that Google already got into trouble over old Lycos tech back in 2012 before winning its case on an appeal last year. On Wednesday, the company announced that it will be offering a selection of that collection for sale as Lycos prepares to roll out a number of physical products in the coming weeks.
The portfolio covers a wide variety of applications ranging from search engine technology to online advertising -- many which it claims are still employed in both the mobile industry and the Internet of Things. "For us, it is of strategic importance to utilize all assets of the company in a manner consistent with current market trends, as well as our collaborative corporate culture, " President Brad Cohen said in a statement. These days you can still try to search on Lycos, which now describes itself as a "digital media powerhouse" after being acquired by another company. Seems like an odd shift for an old-school internet pioneer, but who are we to judge.
