Fallen Canadian technology giant Nortel Networks Corp. has sold off all of its remaining patents to a group of major companies for US$4.5 billion.
The consortium consists of Ontario's Research In Motion, Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft and Sony.
RIM, the Waterloo, Ont.-based Blackberry maker, says its share of the cost was about US$770 million.
There were more than 6,000 patents sold in the multiday auction – a portfolio of tech covering everything from wireless to data networking to Internet search and social networking tools.
The consortium's winning bid is a blow to Google, which bid US$900 million for Nortel's patent rights in April. The Internet search behemoth is increasingly looking for more intellectual rights defences for its rapidly expanding list of products, including its Android mobile operating system.
The sale is still subject to Canadian and U.S. court approval which could happen as early as July 11 at a joint hearing.
Nortel's court protection from creditors had earlier been extended to Dec. 14, to give it more time sell off its assets.
"The size and dollar value for this transaction is unprecedented, as was the significant interest in the portfolio among major companies around the world," George Riedel, Nortel's chief strategy officer, said of the sale.
Nortel has said it does not expect its shareholders to receive any value during its asset selloff.
Over the last few years, Nortel sold its wireless network business to Ericsson for $1.13 billion and its enterprise solutions business to Avaya Inc. for $689 million.
Earlier this year, about 400 former Nortel employees had their long-term disability benefits cut off, as part of a court-approved pension settlement between the company and its former employees
