“Apple is contributing more than half the total $4.5 billion price tag for Nortel patents, with partners including Microsoft and Sony combined kicking in the rest,” Nancy Gohring reports for IDG News Service.
“Apple reported on Wednesday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it will contribute about $2.6 billion toward the cost of the Nortel patent acquisition,” Gohring reports. “A consortium that includes Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Research In Motion, EMC and Ericsson had the winning $4.5 billion bid. As Apple noted in its SEC filing, the offer is still subject to regulatory approval.”
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Gohring reports,”The patents are particularly valuable to companies that make mobile products that have become litigious in recent years as competition in the growing smartphone market heats up.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
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I don’t get why Apple didn’t just buy all of it.. then there is no worry about getting sued from the others. Maybe they all picked the patents they want/need…
Antitrust considerations. Doesn’t look as bad.
that is true as well. Could throw up flags of trying to be a monopoly and anticompetetive
Small price to pay to punish the snarky copycats (Bernoulli anyone?), just like the $600 m paid to Nokia. Sad that the $600 m Apple paid to Nokia helped make Nokia profitable for the quarter but nary received a mention during Apple’s reporting. Like it or not, Apple’s at the wheel.
Oh no! Only $73 billion left in the bank.
I think I can live with that…
Make that 76 billion. 🙂
This is only small change.
I haven’t read any comments or evidence to point at the Nokia settlement, but I think Apple was probably happy, because the settlement payments were probably in-line with FARP rates, which Apple would have been happy to pay to start with. If you recall, Nokia was trying to charge Apple exorbitant rates, and extort the use of Apple patents that were not for sale.