Google has bid USD 900 million to acquire the Nortel patent portfolio. Nortel accepted the offer as a 'stalking horse bid', making it the benchmark in the sale auction planned for June. The agreement includes 6,000 patents and patent applications spanning wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, internet, service provider, semiconductors and other patent portfolios. The portfolio touches nearly every aspect of telecommunications and additional markets as well, including internet search and social networking, Nortel said. According to Google, the deal, if successful, would help enhance its patent portfolio, which is smaller than that of older competitors, and also serve as a deterrent to other companies thinking of suing the company for patent infringement. It should also support Google's development projects, such as Android and Chrome.
