Google Bids $900 Million for 6,000 Nortel Networks Patents

Google Inc. offered $900 million in cash for the rights to Nortel Networks Corp. patents as the world’s biggest Internet-search company seeks to stave off lawsuits by bolstering its portfolio of intellectual property.

Nortel, a Canadian phone-equipment maker that filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2009, selected Google for a “stalking horse” agreement, a starting point against which others bid prior to an auction, Toronto-based Nortel said in a statement today. The planned sale includes about 6,000 patents and patent applications for wired, wireless and digital communications technologies.