Nortel Completes $4.5 Billion Patent Sale to Apple-Led Consortium

[MacRumors]

Nortel today announced that it has officially completed the $4.5 billion sale of over 6,000 patents to a consortium of companies led by Apple. The proposed sale had previously passed muster with both bankruptcy courts and Canadian regulatory authorities, and antitrust concerns regarding the bidding process appear to have also been satisfied.

Nortel Networks Corporation announced that it,its subsidiary Nortel Networks Limited (NNL), and certain of its other subsidiaries, including Nortel Networks Inc. and Nortel Networks UK Limited (in administration), have completed the sale of all of Nortel's remaining patents and patent applications to a consortium consisting of Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research In Motion and Sony, for a cash purchase price of US$4.5 billion.

As previously announced, the sale includes more than 6,000 patents and patent applications spanning wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, internet, service provider, semiconductors and other patents. The extensive patent portfolio touches nearly every aspect of telecommunications and additional markets as well, including Internet search and social networking.

Apple last week revealed that it had contribution $2.6 billion to the total purchase price and it has been claimed that Apple's stake entitles it to outright ownership of the LTE-related patents as well as others that could be used to hinder Android.

Article Link: Nortel Completes $4.5 Billion Patent Sale to Apple-Led Consortium

 

[*LTD*]

 

[tundrabuggy]

Funny

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Nortel today announced that it has officially completed the $4.5 billion sale of over 6,000 patents to a consortium of companies led by Apple. The proposed sale had previously passed muster with both bankruptcy courts and Canadian regulatory authorities, and antitrust concerns regarding the bidding process appear to have also been satisfied.Apple last week revealed that it had contribution $2.6 billion to the total purchase price and it has been claimed that Apple's stake entitles it to outright ownership of the LTE-related patents as well as others that could be used to hinder Android.

Article Link: Nortel Completes $4.5 Billion Patent Sale to Apple-Led Consortium

So how does this work?......Nortel gets a check for 4.5 billion dollars, runs down to bank of America and makes the deposit, then, They run back to the office and email a 35k PDF of all the Patents to Apple?.....LOL, then, if requested, Nortel will send all of the napkins that the patents were scribbled on over the past years?.....The whole process seems so funny.

 

[blackpond]

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That's the funniest POS I've seen in a while! LOL.

 

[kdarling]

... the $4.5 billion sale of over 6,000 patents ...

Holy smoke. An average of $750,000 per patent !

OTOH, if they can get at least $450 million a year in license fees over the next decade, it'll pay them back.

....it has been claimed that Apple's stake entitles it to outright ownership of the LTE-related patents as well as others that could be used to hinder Android.

It could have a larger effect on the carriers, who might change their plans or do the licensing themselves.

 

[shartypants]

OTOH, if they can get at least $450 million a year in license fees over the next decade, it'll pay them back.

Or from a defensive perspective, not having to pay out to someone else may be worth it.

 

[parapup]

DoJ is getting involved - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20085705-38/report-nortel-portfolio-buyers-facing-doj-scrutiny/