Carl Icahn, Motorola Mobility's largest shareholder, has called for the company to better capitalise on its patent portfolio. The statement follows the recent sale of Nortel's patent portfolio for USD 4.5 billion, five times the starting price, in the wake of which the licensing company Interdigital said it was considering a sale and Kodak announced it may sell patented technology. Icahn disclosed his discussions with Motorola in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the Financial Times reports. He said that he held talks with the company and noted that Motorola's patent portfolio is "substantially larger" than Nortel's and includes numerous patents for 4G technologies that have "significant" value. The investor added, "there may be multiple ways to realise such value given the current heightened market demand for intellectual property in the mobile industry". He did not provide any more details about his proposals. Motorola Mobility said in response that the company continuously reviews its strategic direction and noted its recent turnaround in results has been helped by the over 17,000 patents it holds.
