News that Google had competition for a bundle of patents being sold by bankrupt Nortel Networks surfaced every week ago and now it’s official; a consortium of businesses including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony won the multi-day auction with a bid of $4.5 billion. In step with Reuters, RIM contributed $770 million to the trouble while Ericsson is at the hook for $340 million when the deal closes, that is expected to be inside the third quarter of this year. What they’ll do with the over 6,000 patents and patent applications covering everything from wireless to optical to semiconductors isn’t immediately clear, but what won’t happen is Google using them as leverage to stave off the patent trolling hordes . Before any of that occurs, the sale has to clear US and Canadian courts that’s why a joint hearing was scheduled for July 11th, so expect numerous words — and possibly a couple of more cross licensing agreements — from the involved parties by then.
Nortel Announces the Winning Bidder of Its Patent Portfolio for a purchase order Price of US$4.5 Billion
- Working Toward a Q3 2011 Closing
TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jun 30, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Nortel(1) Networks Corporation /quotes/zigman/442381 NRTLQ +19.05% announced today that it, its subsidiary Nortel Networks Limited (NNL), and sure of its other subsidiaries, including Nortel Networks Inc. and Nortel Networks UK Limited (in administration), have concluded a successful auction of all of Nortel’s remaining patents and patent applications. After a multi-day auction, a consortium emerged because the winning bidder with a cash purchase price of US$4.5 billion. The consortium includes Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research In Motion and Sony.
The sale includes greater than 6,000 patents and patent applications spanning wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, internet, merchant, semiconductors and other patents. The extensive patent portfolio touches nearly every aspect of telecommunications and further markets to boot, including Internet search and social networking.
“Following a really robust auction, we’re pleased on the outcome of the auction of this extensive patent portfolio”, said George Riedel, Chief Strategy Officer and President of commercial Units, Nortel. “The scale and dollar value for this transaction is unprecedented, as was the numerous interest within the portfolio among major companies world wide.”
The sale is subject to applicable Canadian and U.S. Court approvals that may be sought at a joint hearing expected to be hung on July 11, 2011. Nortel will work diligently with the consortium to shut the sale inside the third quarter of 2011.
As previously announced, Nortel would not expect that the Company’s common shareholders or the NNL preferred shareholders will receive any value from Nortel’s creditor protection proceedings and expects that the proceedings will lead to the cancellation of those equity interests.
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