Google Seeks to Acquire Bankrupt Nortel’s Patents

According to the April 4^th news.cnet.com article, “Google, under legal siege, seeks Nortel patents”, Google has thrown its hat in the ring to the tune of $900 million dollars, for the opportunity to acquire some 6,000 patents and patent applications from the now bankrupt Nortel Networks. The acquisition would fortify Google’s position in legal battles – a position the company seems to be finding itself in more and more as it expands into new markets.

Nortel was quoted as saying that the patents and patent applications would include: “…spanning wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, Internet, service provider, semiconductors and other patent portfolios,” and also that “The extensive patent portfolio touches nearly every aspect of telecommunications and additional markets as well, including Internet search and social networking.”

Kent Walker, Google’s general counsel, was quoted as saying in a blog post today: “The patent system should reward those who create the most useful innovations for society, not those who stake bogus claims or file dubious lawsuits…But as things stand today, one of a company’s best defenses against this kind of litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio, as this helps maintain your freedom to develop new products and services. Google is a relatively young company, and although we have a growing number of patents, many of our competitors have larger portfolios given their longer histories. So after a lot of thought, we’ve decided to bid for Nortel’s patent portfolio in the company’s bankruptcy auction.”