Nortel Patent Sale Progress, Closer to Becoming No-Tel (NRTLQ, GOOG)

Nortel Networks Corporation (NRTLQ) was one of our Unusual Suspects this weekend for issues to watch this week.  The death of Nortel has been years in the making and this company became one of the greatest implosions that the tech and communications equipment world has ever seen.  Recent news today is about to make the company’s demise one step closer to the bitter end.

Today’s news is that its principal operating subsidiary Nortel Networks Limited and certain of its other subsidiaries did obtained orders from a U.S. bankruptcy court and from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice which gave what is left of Nortel the approval for a “stalking horse” asset sale agreement.  The sale is to Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) via Google’s Ranger Inc. subsidiary.

Google is paying some $900 million for the remaining patent portfolio and patent applications.  More importantly, the bankruptcy court has now set up the bidding procedures for an auction that will allow other qualified bidders to submit higher or otherwise better offers.  These qualified bidders are required to submit offers for the patent portfolio by June 13, 2011, subject to any permitted extensions.

Any competing bids “would then be expected to proceed to an auction, currently scheduled for June 20, 2011.”

Today is not the entire death of what is left of Nortel, but it sure makes this one much closer to an end.  The question now comes down to whether or not this will make Google a patent troll or not.

JON C. OGG