Unlikely alliance trumps Google in Nortel patent race

Apple, Microsoft and Research in Motion are more used to battling each other than cooperating, but as part of a consortium that purchased the highly-prized Nortel patent portfolio on June 30, they have stolen a march on the biggest competitor, Google.

The consortium, including Sony and EMC, bid $4.5 billion for bankrupt Canadian telecoms company Nortel’s patent portfolio, widely seen as containing key intellectual property assets for the telecoms industry. Google, which is already facing many infringement suits over its Andorid operating system and related hardware, had opened the bid in April, offering $900 million for the patent portfolio.

"Following a very robust auction, we are pleased at the outcome of the auction of this extensive patent portfolio", said George Riedel, chief strategy officer and president of business units at Nortel. "The size and dollar value for this transaction is unprecedented, as was the significant interest in the portfolio among major companies around the world."

Bankruptcy courts in the US and Canada have approved the sale, but the US Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is reportedly scrutinising it on antitrust grounds.