Nortel patents: Google gets nod for $900-mn bid

CALIFORNIA, USA: Nortel Networks Corp, the fallen Canadian telecom giant, said it had received court approvals for the "stalking horse" bid made by a unit of Google Inc for its portfolio of technology patents for $900 million.

Nortel also said the courts allowed other bidders to submit their offers for the highly coveted patent portfolio by June 13.

Nortel said the U.S. Bankruptcy court for the District of Delaware and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved the sale agreement with Ranger Inc, a unit of Google.

A "stalking horse" bid is used when a bankrupt company chooses an interested firm to set the bar so that other bidders can't low-ball a purchase price.

Nortel's patent portfolio estimated to be worth over $1 bn

Estimated to be worth over $1 billion, Nortel's patent portfolio touches nearly every aspect of telecommunications and additional markets as well, including Internet search and social networking.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has already expressed its desire to acquire the patent portfolio elated to cutting-edge, next-generation wire technology.

RIM, which was shut out of the bidding process for Nortel's wireless business in 2009, doesn't want Google to get its hands on these patents and patent applications.

Nortel-patented technology used BlackBerry, iPhone, Android smart phones

Since Nortel-patented technology is used in RIM's BlackBerry, Apple's iPhone and Google Android smart phones, the buyer of these patents will get the exclusive rights to license this technology to secure royalties and market influence.

The 129-year-old Nortel received bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada in January 2009 after its accumulated problems.

After this, it has sold its various divisions under court supervision to raise over $3 billion to pay its debtors.

Now, the huge inventory of its 6,000 patents is its last asset to go on the auction block under court supervision.

After the winning bid, the bankruptcy courts in the US and Canada will approve the sale.

Google is seeking Nortel patents as the Internet search engine giant is expanding into other areas, including telecom, as handsets running on its Android operating system are fast snatching market from Apple, RIM, Nokia and Microsoft.

Google is mounting the bid under the name of its wholly owned subsidiary Ranger Inc.