NEW YORK — Faltering Internet icon AOL was able to squeeze out more than $1 billion from Microsoft for a trove of some 800 patents in an auction, the latest sign of just how valuable such portfolios can be for the world's biggest technology companies.

“There is a fight for market share occurring on multiple fronts — technology, patents, advertising,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Financial who covers Microsoft.

“Microsoft, more so than others out there, has been (using) its patent portfolio as a way to generate license fees. This should strengthen that.”

STOCKHOLM — The trustees of bankrupt Saab Automobile say the value of the car maker's assets covers less than a third of its debts and that mainly preferential creditors will get their money back.A summary of Saab's estate inventory shows the company has debts of $1.9 billion and assets worth only $532 million.

TOKYO — Sony more than doubled its projected annual loss to $6.4 billion, its worst red ink ever, due to a massive tax charge.This would be the fourth year of red ink for Sony. New CEO Kazuo Hirai is to outline the company’s new corporate strategy to journalists on Thursday.Sony has for years been struggling to regain the creative flair that made it a dominant force in the electronics industry.