Microsoft, which has just bought patents from AOL for a billion US dollars (£620 million), is now selling most of them to Facebook for 550 million dollars (£340 million).
Facebook is buying about 650 of the 925 AOL patents and patent applications that Microsoft bought, Microsoft and Facebook said.
Facebook will also get a licence to use the rest of the AOL patents that Microsoft bought, and Microsoft will get a licence to use the patents Facebook is buying.
This part of the arrangement amounts to an agreement between Facebook and Microsoft not to sue each other over any of the AOL patents. The companies are not saying what the patents cover.
Microsoft said the deal enables it to recoup half the cost of the AOL deal while reaching its goals for the purchase.
Facebook's general counsel Ted Ullyot called the move a "significant step in our ongoing process of building an intellectual property portfolio to protect Facebook's interests over the long term".
Patents have become a valuable commodity for technology companies in recent years, and companies frequently use them in lawsuits against each other.
Facebook, which is expected to go public in May, is embroiled in a patent suit with struggling internet company Yahoo, which had sued Facebook saying the company violated 10 of its patents covering advertising, privacy controls and social networking. Facebook responded with its own lawsuit this month accusing Yahoo of violating 10 of its patents.
The patents from AOL are adding to Facebook's quickly expanding portfolio. The company recently acquired 750 patents from IBM covering technologies that deal with software and networking. At the end of 2011, Facebook had 56 US patents, which was a relatively small number compared with other big tech companies.
Facebook has said it expects to raise 5 billion dollars (£3.1 billion) in its initial public offering. The actual figure is expected to be higher, however, and could value the California-based company at as much as 100 billion dollars (£62 billion)
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