Yahoo Plans to Auction 3,000 Patents, Could Raise $1B

Yahoo Inc. has kicked off an auction for a portfolio of about 3,000 patents expected to fetch more than $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, the internet company sent letters to a range of potential buyers for the patents, which date back to Yahoo’s founding in 1996 and include its original search technology, one of the people said.