Bankrupt telecom company Nortel Networks announced on Friday that it had sold its juggernaut patent portfolio to a consortium made up of the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and RIM for a hefty sum of $4.5 billion cash.
“The size and dollar value for this transaction is unprecedented, as was the significant interest in the portfolio among major companies around the world,” said George Riedel, Chief Strategy Officer and President of Business Units at Nortel, in a statement.
The consortium—which also includes Sony, Ericsson, and EMC—will now have access to more than 6,000 patents that relate to all manner of technologies, including 4G LTE wireless capabilities, Wi-Fi, semiconductors, and social networking. The six companies beat out Google and Intel, which were both also bidding.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Apple, Microsoft, RIM pay out $4.5B for Nortel patents, Google sits alone in the corner | VentureBeat
Author:Sean Ludwig
