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Apple had no say in Rockstar's decision to sue Google
Three weeks ago, we reported that Rockstar, a consortium backed by companies like Apple and Microsoft, sued Google and a host of other companies for patent infringement. As a quick primer, the Rockstar consortium in June of 2011 jointly bid US$4.4 billion in an auction for more than 6,000 Nortel patents. Google was also a participant in the auction, but backed down once bidding hit the $4 billion mark. As for the suit itself, Rockstar is suing Google over patented technology that helps map relevant advertisements to corresponding internet search terms. Put simply, the suit is going after Google's prime money-maker. As one would expect, news that Rockstar was going after Google evoked a lot of ire from folks who assumed that the patents obtained by the consortium would only be used for defensive purposes. Indeed, many were quick to call out Rockstar for being nothing more than a money-hungry patent troll while expressing disappointment in Apple for being party to the proceedings. For instance, Matt Drance of AppleOutsider wrote: I've said this multiple times in the past, and I'll say it again: I don't like this game. Rockstar looks, smells and now acts like countless NPE's that have done more harm than good -- namely Lodsys, which has been aggressively harassing Apple's own ecosystem. It's extremely disappointing to see Apple facilitate this kind of behavior. But as it turns out, it appears that Rockstar filed the suit against Google with no input from any of its shareholders; a grouping that includes Apple, Microsoft, RIM, Ericcson and Sony. In an interview with Intellectual Asset Management, Rockstar CEO (and former Nortel IP chief) John Veschi expressed a bit of surprise that the lawsuit against Google generated as much press as it did. Veschi also emphasized that the decision to go after Google was not made at the behest of Apple or any of the other shareholders. Given the amount they paid and given the on-going issues at least some of them have with both Google and the Android platform, many reports have talked about the consortium going on the attack or have assumed that it is the shareholders that have driven things. This is categorically not the case, Veschi says. "It was entirely my call based on the facts in front of me," he states. "The shareholders got an email telling them what had happened after the suits were issued." Previously, Veschi has made a point of stating that Apple and co. are merely shareholders and the relationship between them and Rockstar is "distant." "I understand that it might be sexy to say that they are pulling the strings," Veschi explains, "but actually it is also slightly insulting to us. We are running the business. We do that job and they do their jobs and that's it." While some might not buy the story Veschi is selling, Veschi adamantly maintains that none of Rockstar's shareholders influence, in any way, who Rockstar chooses to go after. If you'd like to read more about Veschi and the Rockstar operation, there's an interesting and informative interview with him up on Rockstar's website where talks about all things licensing along with Rockstar's underlying business philosophy.
Yoni Heisler11.21.2013
Apple-backed consortium sues Google, Samsung and others over Nortel patents
In late June of 2011, Apple was part of a consortium of tech companies that banded together to purchase more than 6,000 Nortel patents. The winning bid checked in at US$4.5 billion and came from a group that included Apple, EMC, Ericcson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony. Together, Apple and co. were referred to as the "Rockstar Consortium." One notable company that was also gunning for Nortel's patents was Google, a company with a notoriously flimsy patent portfolio relative to many of its competitors. Google reportedly dropped out of the bidding war once the price hit the $4.4 billion threshold. Interestingly enough, Google was reportedly asked to join what would ultimately be the winning consortium, but decided to go it alone. We'll have more on that soon, but for now, the story of the day is that Rockstar has now filed suit against Google, Samsung and others for infringing upon various Nortel patents. Reuters reports: Rockstar, the consortium that bought the Nortel patents for $4.5 billion, sued Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, HTC Corp, Huawei and four other companies for patent infringement in U.S. District Court in Texas. Rockstar is jointly owned by Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry, Ericsson and Sony. Google is accused of infringing seven patents. The patents cover technology that helps match Internet search terms with relevant advertising, the lawsuit said, which is the core of Google's search business. ... Samsung, Huawei and HTC all manufacture phones that operate on Google's Android operating system, which competes fiercely with Apple and Microsoft mobile products. This should get interesting. You can check out the complaint in its entirety over here.
Yoni Heisler11.01.2013
Apple, Microsoft-backed 'Rockstar' uses Nortel patents to sue Google, Samsung and others
Early last year, the "Rockstar" consortium backed by Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Sony and Ericsson closed its purchase of thousands of patents previously owned by Nortel for $4.5 billion (around the same time Google, after failing to purchase the patents itself, closed a $12 billion deal for Motorola). That transaction cleared the DOJ as the team agreed to license the tech on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, as well as their commitments not to seek injunctions in disputes involving SEPs." According to Reuters, Rockstar -- along with another company, Netstar -- has picked today to file a lawsuit against Google over seven of the patents, reportedly covering the ability to match internet search terms to advertising. TechCrunch lists other lawsuits filed against cellphone manufacturers including Samsung, LG, ASUS, HTC, Pantech, ZTE and Huawei. All of these companies build Android-based devices, so it appears that despite all the other ongoing lawsuits and license agreements, it's time for another round of patent warfare to start.
Richard Lawler10.31.2013
Apple grabs more than 1,000 patents from Rockstar Consortium
Apple is beefing up its patent portfolio with the recent transfer of over 1,000 patents from Rockstar Consortium. The patent and patent application transfer was first reported by Yonhap News and confirmed by patent transfer records in the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Apple is a member of Rockstar Bidco, which outbid Google for a collection of 4,000 patents from Nortel. Apple along with Microsoft, Sony, Ericsson, EMC and RIM bid US$4.5 billion for the patent portfolio in July 2011. Apple provided $2.6 billion to buy the patents and patent applications. According to a report in Business Insider, Apple, Microsoft and Rockstar declined to comment on the news report. [Via Business Insider]
Kelly Hodgkins11.16.2012
DOJ greenlights bid by Apple, Microsoft and RIM to buy Nortel patents
The US Department of Justice didn't just give the go-ahead to Google's acquisition of Motorola today, it also gave the greenlight to a $4.5 billion bid on Nortel's patents from a consortium of companies including Apple, Microsoft and RIM (who have dubbed themselves Rockstar Bidco). Nortel's portfolio includes some 6,000 patents, and the DOJ says the approval comes after it received clear commitments from Apple and Microsoft to license so-called standard essential patents on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, as well as their commitments not to seek injunctions in disputes involving SEPs." To round things out for the day, the Justice Department has also given its clearance to Apple's acquisition of certain Novell patents, which have been held by CPTN Holdings pending approval. Its full statement can be found after the break.
Donald Melanson02.13.2012
Google accuses Apple and Microsoft of teaming up to strangle Android
David Drummond, Senior VP and Chief Legal Officer at Google, has posted a diatribe against Apple and Microsoft, both competitors against Google's Android platform. "Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other's throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what's going on," Drummond writes. What's going on according to Drummond? It's "a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents." Some of those said "bogus" patents, it bears mentioning, were subject to a US$900 million opening bid from Google, a bid the company later lost to a consortium of companies including Apple and Microsoft. Just saying, $900 million is a lot of money to put on the table for something that's bogus. "Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it," Drummond says. I can't argue with that -- Lodsys immediately comes to mind -- but is he trying to tell us that Google would never leverage the Nortel patents against Apple and Microsoft if the bidding had gone the other way? Indeed, that seems to be exactly what he's saying when he accuses competitors of "fighting through litigation" instead of "competing by building new features or devices." "Unless we act, consumers could face rising costs for Android devices - and fewer choices for their next phone," Drummond says. It's hard for me to read this, or the rest of Drummond's piece, without translating it thus: Google is scared. The question is, should Google be scared? That depends on a few things: the strength of the Nortel patents, any possible regulatory intervention in the purchase of those patents, Apple and/or Microsoft's willingness to actively pursue patent claims and "strangle" Android, and finally, the courts' determination as to whether or not Google has violated those patents. It's pretty obvious on casual inspection that Google hasn't been innovating in a vacuum, however, so if Apple or Microsoft actually are intent on "strangling" the free ride Android's had so far, then maybe Google should be exactly as scared as it sounds.
Chris Rawson08.03.2011
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.
Michael Gorman07.12.2011
Courts approve sale of Nortel patents to Apple, others
Courts in both the US and Canada have approved the sales of Nortel patents to a consortium of companies led by Apple. On July 1st Apple, Microsoft, Ericsson, EMC, Sony and RIM beat out competing offers from Google and Intel to win a treasure chest of 6,000 Nortel patents. The total cost of the sale was US$4.5 billion. After the sale there was some concern that that patents would give the winning companies unfair advantages in the marketplace and over the weekend it was reported that the Feds were looking into how Google and its Android OS would be affected. Being the losing bidder, it's no doubt that Google held out hopes to have the sale blocked, but Reuters now reports that courts both in the US and Canada have approved the sale. This gives the winning bidders – mainly Apple – a significant advantage in the smartphone sector as many of the patents were related to the up-and-coming 4G LTE technologies.
Michael Grothaus07.11.2011
Antitrust investigation examining Apple-led Nortel patent purchase
Antitrust officials are reportedly examining the recent consortium purchase of Nortel's patent portfolio. According to the Washington Post, the Feds are interested in determining how Google will be affected by the sale: "Federal antitrust enforcers are scrutinizing whether Google, often accused of abusing its Web search power, is facing an unfair coalition of companies that could block its popular Android mobile phone software, according to a source close to the matter." Specifically, it's the board reach of included patents that has drawn attention. Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony were among the consortium that took part in the sale. We'll have more on this story as it develops over time.
Dave Caolo07.10.2011
Google bids pi for Nortel's wireless patent stash, brings comedy to places you never thought possible
Enabling surfers to play Pac-Man instead of actually initiating the search they showed up to complete? Taking a stroll through an episode of Burn Notice? Throwing internet on a magical Indian bus? All relatively normal things from one Google, Inc., but it seems that Larry Page's deadpan demeanor is actually covering up quite the character. During the outfit's recent attempt to outbid the likes of Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony for a sliver of Nortel's coveted wireless patent portfolio, Reuters is reporting that Google's plays were... less than conventional. Reportedly, the company bid $1,902,160,540 and $2,614,972,128, better known by mathematicians as Brun's constant and Meissel-Mertens constant, respectively. Funnier still, Google decided to offer $3.14159 billion (you know, pi) when the bidding reached $3 billion. One of the unnamed sources summed up the bizarreness quite well: "Google was bidding with numbers that were not even numbers. It became clear that they were bidding with the distance between the earth and the sun. One was the sum of a famous mathematical constant, and then when it got to $3 billion, they bid pi. Either they were supremely confident or they were bored." Or, perhaps they're just supremely awesome?
Darren Murph07.02.2011
Nortel patent auction goes to Apple/Microsoft/RIM consortium
Back in April, the bankrupt telecom manufacturer Nortel put its patent portfolio on the block via a US$900 million 'stalking horse' sale agreement with a relative newcomer to the market: Google. The arrangement set a minimum value for Nortel's intellectual property on the open market, and presumably put Google in a solid position to eventually bid for the final package. Apparently the bidding got a little too stratospheric for the search/Android giant to keep up. Nortel announced last night that the successful bid was $4.5 billion, and the patent suite (more than 6,000 inventions covering every corner of the mobile computing and telecommunications landscape) will go to an industry consortium full of strange bedfellows: Microsoft, Apple, Ericsson, EMC, Sony and RIM. The patent sale, which is subject to court approval both in the US and in Nortel's home jurisdiction of Canada, could mean additional headaches for Android handset manufacturers as they try to fend off patent challenges without indemnification from Google. Of course, Apple's got patent troubles of its own, both from partner/competitor Samsung (see FOSSPatents' comprehensive and terrifying battle chart) and from developer-targeting Lodsys, among many others. [via TechCrunch & Fortune]
Michael Rose07.01.2011Consortium including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony snags Nortel patents for $4.5 billion
News that Google had competition for a bundle of patents being sold by bankrupt Nortel Networks surfaced a week ago and now it's official; a consortium of companies including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony won the multi-day auction with a bid of $4.5 billion. According to Reuters, RIM contributed $770 million to the effort while Ericsson is on the hook for $340 million when the deal closes, which is expected to be in the third quarter of this year. What they'll do with the over 6,000 patents and patent applications covering everything from wireless to optical to semiconductors isn't immediately clear, but what won't happen is Google using them as leverage to stave off the patent trolling hordes. Before any of that happens, the sale has to clear US and Canadian courts which is why a joint hearing has been scheduled for July 11th, so expect plenty of words -- and probably a few more cross licensing agreements -- from the involved parties by then.
Richard Lawler07.01.2011
DOJ gives Apple the green light to bid on Nortel patents
One by one, companies are getting the green light from the Department of Justice to bid on over 6,000 patents being auctioned off as part of Nortel's bankruptcy. Google received approval earlier this week, and Apple is supposedly next. Nortel is auctioning off its patents on June 27. Google has already bid US$900 million and will receive this treasure trove of intellectual property unless a competing bid is entered by another company, like Apple. Nortel's attorney has not released the names of any additional bidders and will remain silent until it picks a winner in the next few weeks. Despite the high price and regulatory hurdles, companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft are actively pursuing these patents. It's not very often that such a large number of wireless and networking patents become available at one time. The company that walks away with the lion's share of this property will have a robust arsenal to both initiate and defend itself in patent infringement cases.
Kelly Hodgkins06.24.2011
US DOJ greenlights Google's $900 million bid for Nortel patents; Apple, RIM also interested
It looks like Google will be able to bid on Nortel's patent portfolio after all, now that the Department of Justice has weighed in on the matter. According to the Wall Street Journal, El Goog's $900 million bid has passed a governmental antitrust review, just a few days ahead of next week's auction. Rivals like Microsoft, AT&T and Verizon had previously filed complaints with the DOJ, arguing that the sale of Nortel's 6,000 patents would give an unfair advantage to the auction's winner by providing it with a fresh arsenal for patent-infringement lawsuits. Google, however, claims it needs the portfolio to defend itself against legal challenges, since it has comparatively few patents to its name. The DOJ apparently sees nothing illegal with this argument, having determined that singular ownership of Nortel's intellectual property would pose no threat to market competition. This is obviously music to Google's ears, but the battle isn't over yet. Sources tell the Journal that both RIM and Apple are interested in filing their own bids for the patents, and have already begun discussing the matter with the Justice Department. None of the companies involved have commented on the story, but it'll all go down on June 20th, when the auction finally gets underway.
Amar Toor06.15.2011
Regulators worried about Apple's interest in Nortel patents
On June 20th, Canadian telecommunications equipment manufacturer Nortel will be auctioning off over 6,000 patents in order to restructure its debt and pay off financial obligations. Last December we reported that among the companies interested in the patents are Google, Research in Motion, and Apple. Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US Department of Justice has concerns over Apple acquiring Nortel's patents. The Journal states that at first the DOJ was concerned about Google, but the Internet giant worked with the department to address any concerns. It then bid US$900 million for the patent portfolio. With the Google concerns addressed, the DOJ has turned its eyes to Apple. According to the Journal, the DOJ "has greater concerns about Apple" because of the way the company "has often tangled with rivals in patent suits." However, the Journal also reports that Apple "has been in talks with the Justice Department to address its concerns" before the June 20th auction. Patents have obviously become a hot issue in the smartphone market and companies that own the most could in theory stifle the innovation of other companies by not allowing them to license the patents or accusing them of patent violations for similar technologies. However, owning a trove of patents could also help your company from getting its products ripped off, as Apple is alleging Samsung has done.
Michael Grothaus06.05.2011
Google bids $900 million for Nortel patent portfolio, will use it as shield against patent trolls (update)
Google and Nortel have agreed on the princely sum of $900 million to start off a "stalking horse" auction -- wherein outside parties are still free to outdo Google's bid -- for the acquisition of Nortel's rather vast patent portfolio. The sale comes as part of the latter company's bankruptcy selloff and involves some 6,000 patents and patent applications, which encompass both wired and wireless communications, semiconductors, data networking, voice, and the internet -- going so far as to even touch on web search and social networking. The thing is, Google's not really enamored with these tidbits of intellectual property to the tune of nearly a billion dollars. No sir, a rather bitter blog post from the company this morning makes it quite clear that Google's acting in order to bolster its own intellectual property library and to "create a disincentive for others to sue." Both Android and Chrome get obliquely mentioned in Google's announcement as benefiting from the move, which should be completed by June of this year pending other bids and regulatory approvals. Update: Microsoft has noted that it has "a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to all of Nortel's patents that covers all Microsoft products and services, resulting from the patent cross-license signed with Nortel in 2006." That license will also transfer with the sale of the patent rights. All that means is that Microsoft cannot be sued for infringing on that bundle of rights as it is already licensed to use them. That means Microsoft is extremely unlikely to participate in this auction -- other than, of course, as a means to prevent others from obtaining the same rights.
Vlad Savov04.04.2011
Apple, others withdraw filing for Novell patent purchase
CPTN Holdings LLC, a consortium of companies which include Microsoft, Apple, EMC and Oracle, has withdrawn its filing to purchase 882 patents originally held by Novell. In December, the group submitted a plan to the German government's anti-trust authority notifying them of their plan to purchase these patents for $450 million. These patents were offered as part of Attachmate's deal to buy Novell. The purchase of these patents by CPTN was opposed by open source organizations, including the Open Source Initiative and the Free Software Foundation Europe. Both open source groups filed complaints against this transaction with German regulators. In its complaint, the Open Source Initiative noted, "The founders and leaders of CPTN have a long history of opposing and misrepresenting the value of open source software, which is at the heart of Web infrastructure and of many of the most widely used software products and services. The sole or leading competition for several products from the CPTN principals are open source." Despite the withdrawal of this application, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that CPTN still plans to purchase these Novell patents. Instead of a change of heart, this decision may have been a procedural step that would let CPTN modify its filing. According to this theory, CPTN could make changes that would ease the concerns of open source groups and allow the purchase to proceed more smoothly.
Kelly Hodgkins01.13.2011
Apple, Microsoft, others acquire Novell patents for $450 million
Software company Novell recently had to reorganize after an acquisition by Attachmate, and as a result, a number of patents held by the company went up the air for grabs. Apple has decided to team with Microsoft, and picked up the patents along with a few other partners for $450 million. It's not quite known what will happen with these, but the company formed by the partnership, CPTN Holdings LLC, now owns 882 patents originally filed by Novell. Filing papers show that this company was "a consortium organized by Microsoft," so presumably the patents will simply be held by the company to protect certain technologies if necessary, or Microsoft and its partners (including Apple) will split them up according to some agreement. This isn't the only chunk of patents that Apple is looking to pick up -- the bankrupt Nortel Networks is also trying to sell off a swath of 4,000 patents worth over $1 billion all together, and Apple is reportedly interested in buying at least a few of those. Microsoft and Google are also aiming to pick up some of Nortel's patents. And all of these patents are just more ammo in a few different ongoing lawsuits, between Apple and other cell phone manufacturers. At this point, we're getting into a level of abstraction that seems pretty far removed from the reason patents were invented in the first place. But as long as Apple can gain an advantage by patenting as many technologies as possible and buying as many patents as it can, it'll play the system as much as is legal. [via Macrumors]
Mike Schramm12.16.2010
Rumor: Apple bidding for Nortel patent assets
The formerly high-flying Canadian telecommunications hardware provider Northern Telecom appears to be on its last legs, and Apple and Google are apparently among the vultures circling overhead ready to pick at the most valuable parts of the carcass. The two Silicon Valley companies are said to be among the bidders for Nortel's huge patent portfolio. Nortel is a company with a history dating back to the earliest days of the telephone, having been established in 1882 by the Bell Telephone Company of Canada to manufacture phones and network equipment north of the border. In the 1990s, Nortel had tremendous growth as it provided many of the bits and pieces that made the expansion of the internet and mobile phone networks possible. The burst of the bubble saw the rapid decline of Nortel until it finally filed for bankruptcy protection in mid-2009. Nortel has a portfolio of over 4,000 patents estimated to be worth over $1 billion. With both Apple and Google involved in patent litigation relating to their respective mobile phone efforts, the Nortel patents are likely be of great value as a defensive measure. Research in Motion and Motorola are also expected to bid on the patents in order to protect their own positions. Intellectual property battles between big companies often end up in a stalemate if both sides can conjure up sufficient patents that their opponent might be infringing on. The result is usually some sort of cross-licensing agreement that makes the lawyers wealthier and lets the companies go on their merry way. The auction of the patents is expected to be wrapped up soon. [via MacRumors]
Sam Abuelsamid12.12.2010
LG and Nortel complete first legit LTE-CDMA handoff, Verizon swoons
This'll probably end up being important for Bell and Telus up in Canada (even though they're taking an intermediate step from CDMA to HSPA), but Verizon must absolutely love the fact that the infrastructure guys have now figured out how to hand off data packets between CDMA and LTE networks in a standards-compliant way. LG and Nortel -- what's left of it, anyway -- have collaborated to complete the handoff in Nortel's Ottawa research labs on 700MHz spectrum between EV-DO and the Canadian firm's LTE hardware, using LG's so-called M13 prototype modem that roughly resembles consumer-grade equipment that LG wants to release next year. This is great news for customers who not only won't need to choose between a fast modem with crappy coverage and a slow modem with awesome coverage -- they'll be able to have both in a single device -- but they'll also be able to continue to torrent last night's True Blood as they move between technologies. Cheers to that.
Chris Ziegler08.25.2009