shazam11Intellectual Ventures today announced that it has licensed its portfolio of 40,000 patents and patent applications to Shazam, makers of the popular music recognition app. As part of the deal, Shazam is also now a customer of IV’s IP-for-Defense program that helps companies fight patent litigation.

Shazam is best known for its app that recognizes music within seconds, but the company is making moves into other media formats as it recently raised a $30 million round last month.

“As an organization, Shazam is always seeking to provide users with the most compelling and engaging experience possible,” Bridget Kerle, General Counsel at Shazam, said in a statement. “Our agreement with IV, and access to their patent portfolio, will add new resources for Shazam.”

It’s the latest licensing deal for Intellectual Ventures, the controversial patent holding and technology company led by former Microsoft technology chief Nathan Myhrvold. Intellectual Ventures has been struggling to retain its early investors from the technology industry, and the company last fall laid off 20 percent of its employees.

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