PORTLAND: Apple Inc. has joined the bidders for a multitude of patents from Nortel Networks Corp., the bankrupt manufacturer of phone equipment, two people familiar with knowledge of the matter said.
Nortel, based in Mississauga, Ontario, said yesterday received "a considerable degree of interest" in the technology portfolio and the auction for one week to 27 June slowdown in demand to meet. People familiar with Apple's plan would not be identified because the bidding process is not public.
The move will put Apple in competition with Google Inc. for the 6000 patents, which can be used in smartphone technology. Google, which seeks to strengthen the Android software, offered $ 900 million in April, when Nortel said, was a starting point for an auction. RPX Corp., a San Francisco-based patent-buying firm, is considering a bid, a lawyer for the company said last month.
Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple declined comment.
Nortel bankruptcy in January 2009 after a loss of $ 5.8 billion, hurt by customers to defer spending on new equipment during the recession. Nortel has since raised about $ 3 billion to pay creditors by selling businesses. The patent portfolio is the last of the great assets sold.
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