Nortel Patent Sales Gets DOJ Clearance

The Department of Justice waiting period for review concerning the acquisition of a substantial majority of the former Nortel Networks patent portfolio has expired and the company is free to consummate the acquisition. The portfolio consists of approximately 4,000 patent assets related to a broad array of networking, communications, and internet technologies. The patents are being acquired by the Rockstar Consortium, which consists of Apple, Microsoft, RIM, Ericsson and Sony, for $4.5 billion.


Rockstar has said it intends to pursue licensing agreements with companies that are harnessing its intellectual property.


John Veschi, Chief Executive Officer of Rockstar, and formerly Chief IP Officer of Nortel, stated that, "We are pleased to emerge from this review process, and are looking forward to working with technology related companies to provide them with access to Rockstar's technology. The entire industry has benefited from Nortel's groundbreaking innovations, and we are eager to work with them to establish licenses enabling the continued use of this technology."http://www.nortel.com