Mosaid eyeing Nortel's LTE patents: CEO

BANGALORE, INDIA:  Patent licensing firm Mosaid Technologies Inc is readying itself for a "highly competitive auction process" for Nortel's network boosting technology patents, as it aims to enter a new market.

The LTE, or long-term evolution, technology is the path being chosen by most carriers and they are expected to spend generously to upgrade or convert their networks to enable fast mobile broadband access for services like watching movies on mobile phones.

"The one that is getting the most market attention is the LTE patents and we certainly do have an interest in those," chief executive John Lindgren told Reuters in a telephonic interview.

"There are some patents that we see as very attractive. We find diamonds in the rock quite a bit. We got our eyes on the specific areas."

Ontario-based Mosaid's 1,915 patents and applications do not include any LTE patents. Last week, its Canadian rival Wi-LAN Inc told Reuters that it was also eyeing Nortel's wireless technology patents.

Mosaid's Lindgren said the company had earmarked certain patents it was interested in but declined to identify them due to competitive reasons. Investment banks had also come forward to finance the bid.

Once North America's biggest telecommunications equipment maker, Nortel Network filed for bankruptcy in January 2009, but continues to retain more than 3,000 patents. It is auctioning off its assets to pay back debt holders, rather than restructure the business.

New opportunities in gaming

In early February, Mosaid said it had signed a worldwide, non-exclusive wireless patent license agreement with Japan's Sony Corp, covering all Sony Wi-Fi enabled products.

Lindgren said the Sony deal -- Mosaid's first licensing deal in the gaming space -- could open up new opportunities in the industry.

"We believe it will influence some other gaming manufacturers to seriously consider taking a license," Lindgren said.

Mosaid also has plans to diversify into other fields like display technology, GPS, general CDMA, power saving and power management technologies.

Lindgren added that the company has C$100 million ($96.99 million) of cash, the majority of which will be primarily used for patent acquisitions.

However, he said would like to keep aside at least C$50 million of cash in the books to weather expensive litigations. It currently is in litigation with only IBM.

Mosaid Technology shares, which have surged 119 percent in the last 1 year, closed at C$24.34 Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.