HP has had a long, strange history with webOS. After buying Palm and webOS in 2010, the company decided to "discontinue operations" on its webOS hardware in late 2011 and then ended up selling the platform to LG earlier this year. As part of that sale, HP agreed to license the patents related to webOS, but now it looks like Meg Whitman and Co. may have decided to sell off those as well.

Sources speaking to Bloomberg claim that HP has approached multiple parties about a possible sale of some of its mobile patents, including those related to webOS. None of the names of the potential buyers were given. However, it is said that in the process of seeking a buyer for its patents, HP has worked to remove some conditions related to a potential deal in order to make the patent portfolio more attractive to other firms.

While still a rumor at this point, it certainly seems plausible that HP would be interested in selling off its webOS patents. Not only has the company not introduced any new webOS products since 2011, it's barely even mentioned the platform since 2011 and its TouchPad fire sale, and now HP appears to be committed to Android as its mobile OS of choice. Now HP likely just wants to get what it can for those patents and put those resources toward other projects. Do you think that any company will actually pull the trigger on HP's webOS patents?

Via Bloomberg