RIM May Bid Against Google For Nortel Patents

BlackBerry maker RIM may look to top Google’s $900 million (£553m) bid for Nortel’s portfolio of wireless patents, according to a report.

RIM is considering either making the bid on its own or joining a group of technology companies considering bidding for the patents, according to two unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg on Friday.

Divestment

Nortel is selling the patents as part of a wider divestment of assets following its declaration of bankruptcy in January 2009. The portfolio, which is the last major asset to be sold, includes technology related to wireless video and the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard.

The patents cover technology already used in the BlackBerry, Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems. Ownership of the patents will give the buyer the ability to enter into licensing deals with companies using the technology and to block competition from companies who aren’t able to pay or don’t have their own patents to offer in cross-licensing deals.

Google’s bid was the opening round of a “stalking-horse” agreement that will conclude in an auction on 20 June if other bidders appear.

The bidding rules require that a second bidder would need to offer at least £929m for the patents, and subsequent bids would have to up the stakes by $5m each time.

Patent defence

Google said its bid was intended to help it stave off patent litigation.

“One of a company’s best defences 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,” wrote Google’s Kent Walker, senior vice president and general counsel.

Google has admitted to being patent-poor compared to older competitors with deeper portfolios. The company is currently weathering a copyright infringement lawsuit from Oracle, which claimed the Android platform unlawfully uses Java code covered in its patents. Patent expert Florian Mueller said Google’s weakness in patents left it open to such lawsuits.

Google has been a vocal advocate for patent reform, which calls for a reimagining of the current US system in which patent trolls acquire low-quality software patents and wait to demand licensing fees from those who try to use their technology.