Monday, April 4, 2011

Google (GOOG) Opens Nortel Patent Bid at $900 Million

In an auction for the giant patent portfolio held by Nortel, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) offer the first bid volley at $900 million. Competitors like Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) are looking at entering into the bidding process as well.

Via an order from a bankruptcy court, Nortel has been ordered to divest of its patent holdings, which are estimated to number at about 6,000, including patent applications as well as patents already awarded.

Google has stated, as well as others, that they're interested in acquiring patents in order to help battle an endless number of patent infringement lawsuits which are also costly to defend against.

Expectations are it'll probably take much more than this to secure the patents, depending on the players and how deep their pockets are.

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