ICQ was mainly purchased/sought-after for their instant messaging patent: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/u-s-awards-icq-founders-patent-for-insta

ICQ was mainly purchased/sought-after for their instant messaging patent: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/u-s-awards-icq-founders-patent-for-instant-messenger-software-1.25189 http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/u-s-awards-icq... Which is now owned by DST the same large investors in Facebook and Zynga.