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July 12, 2011 11:43 am EDT

It's official: Nortel patent sale approved by US and Canadian courts (updated)

Nortel was just looking for some quick cash when the company put its 6,000 telecommunications patents up for auction. Then Google decided that IP would make a mighty fine troll deterrent, and started a crazy bidding war to get it. A coalition of the willing -- including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM, and Sony -- opposed Big G and paid $4.5 billion for the prize portfolio pending approval by the powers that be. Well, both Canadian and US bankruptcy judges just gave the purchase two thumbs up, and the deal is officially done. Now the question is whether the auction's victors will use these patents as a shield against those with trollish intentions or as a sword to strike at their enemies?

Update: To clarify, the deal was only approved by the bankruptcy courts, and the US DOJ is examining the sale for its possible anti-competitive effects.

It's official: Nortel patent sale approved by US and Canadian courts (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/12/its-official-nortel-patents-sale-approved-in-us-and-canada/

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Engadget

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WI

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