Wednesday, December 19, 2012

CRM: Microsoft Suit Highlights Paucity of Patents

Shares of Salesforce.com (CRM) are off $2.64, or 3%, at $81.52 after Microsoft (MSFT) yesterday sued the online software operator on nine counts of patent infringement, including things as basic as displaying a Web page.

In a note to clients today, JMP Securities analyst Patrick Walravens writes that the suit highlights that Salesforce has a “limited patent portfolio of its own to use for a counter-suit,” at a grand total of 8, versus 14,957 for Microsoft.

Walravens says he’s reached out to both companies to discuss the suit but hasn’t yet heard back. He maintains a “Market Outperform” rating on Salesforce and a $101 price target.

Microsoft shares today are down 49 cents, or 1.7%, at $28.11.

– Tiernan Ray, Barrons.com

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