Why Nokia didn’t sell its patents to Microsoft

Nokia may have sold its handset business to Microsoft Corp, but by hanging on to its valuable patent portfolio, the Finnish company could also get a big future payoff at the expense of Android phone makers.

Microsoft agreed on Tuesday to pay 3.79 billion euros ($5 billion) for Nokia’s handset business and another 1.65 billion euros for a 10-year license for Nokia’s patents, considered some of the highest-quality patents in the mobile market.