Nortel delays patent auction due to 'significant' interest

Nortel Networks has said it is putting off the auction for its 6,000 patents and applications due to a "significant level of interest".

The Nortel auction was moved from June 20 to June 27 to accommodate the increased interest. In other words, Google got the go-ahead from regulators to bid on Nortel's patents, but may wind up paying a lot more than $900m (£558m) if it wants the portfolio.

Likely bidders for Nortel's portfolio could include some of the companies that filed objections to Google's effort to bid on the patents: Apple, Research In Motion, Microsoft, AT&T, Verizon, HP and Nokia.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Nortel patent portfolio draws bidding war: Apple vs. Google? on ZDNet.com.