Facebook has announced it has bought a package of patents from IBM in a move thought to help boost its defence against Yahoo's recently filed lawsuit.

A Facebook spokesperson has confirmed the acquisition but details of the deal have not yet been made public. Several reports claim the the network has acquired 750 patents covering a wide range of technology including software and networking. 

The additional patents will add to its existing intellectual property portfolio, which is reported to include at least 56 issued patents and 503 filed US patents.

Yahoo recently filed a lawsuit against Facebook, claiming the social network infringed 10 of its patents covering several functions, including advertising, security and messaging – the first patent case regarding social media.

Facebook’s patent acquisition is considered a traditional defence method against counter-patent lawsuits; but Yahoo is reported to trump the social network with more than 3,000 patents and published patent applicants.

As reported by Bloomberg, IBM has made a series of IP deals with Google during the past year and has topped the list of US patent recipients for 19 straight years.