Judges in US, Canada approve Nortel patents sale

[The Northerner]

WILMINGTON, Del.—U.S. and Canadian judges on Monday approved a $4.5 billion cash bid from a consortium that includes smartphone makers Apple and Research In Motion for thousands of patents held by bankrupt telecom-equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp.

The judges approved the results of Nortel's patent auction at a joint hearing on Monday, just over a week after the consortium offered five times more than Google Inc.'s initial bid of $900 million for some 6,000 patents and patent applications.

The purchase --and its approval-- represent a significant win for a consortium of companies that includes Apple Inc., EMC Corp., LM Ericsson AB, Microsoft Corp., Research in Motion Ltd., and Sony Corp. Phones running Google's Android system compete with software and devices made by the new holders of the Nortel patents. The patents cover many technologies, including data networking, semiconductors and wireless systems known as fourth generation, or 4G.

Nortel has said the portfolio "touches nearly every aspect of telecommunications and additional markets ... including Internet search and social networking." They are among the last major assets of Toronto-based Nortel, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009. The company has been selling off its operations bit by bit since then.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/07/11/judges_in_us_canada_weigh_nortel_patents_sale