In After a hotly contested auction that saw Google and Intel loose out, bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp's remaining patent portfolio has gone for $4.5 billion to Apple Inc and Research In Motion that are part of a winning consortium of six companies. In a statement Nortel has said that Microsoft Corp, EMC Corp, Sweden's Ericsson and Sony Corp are also part of the winning consortium.
The hotly contested auction includes more than 6,000 patents and patent applications, which span from wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, internet, semiconductors and other patents. However, amongst all these patents, the most prized ones relate to mobile broadband technology used in emerging 4G standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE).
It was in year 2009 that Nortel had filed for bankruptcy. Since then Nortel has raised around $3.2 billion for creditors by selling business units. In a statement, George Riedel, Nortel's chief strategy officer and president of business units, said, The size and dollar value for this transaction is unprecedented, as was the significant interest in the portfolio among major companies around the world.
Originally the sale was scheduled for mid-June, but it had to be delayed after major corporates started displaying high level of interest in the patents. In April, Google had offered more than $900 million for the patent portfolio and this led Nortel to place a deadline for others to bid higher. However, Justice Department is currently looking into whether the winner would be gaining an unfair edge against the competition.
In separate statements, RIM and Ericsson have announced that their portion of the purchase consideration is about $770 million and $340 million respectively.
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