US, Canada courts approve Nortel patent sale to Apple/RIM group

Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Research in Motion Ltd and three other leading tech companies received court approval on Monday to buy wireless patents from the bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp for $4.5 billion.

Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Research in Motion Ltd and three other leading tech companies received court approval on Monday to buy wireless patents from the bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp for $4.5 billion.

Judges in the United States and Canadian approved the sale of 6,000 patents and applications, which fetched three times what some analysts had expected from the four-day auction in June.

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Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors in January 2009, and courts in the two countries are overseeing the disposal of the company's assets as the former telecommunications giant winds down its operations.

The group of six that won the auction, a collection that bid as Rockstar Bidco LP, also included EMC Corp, Ericsson and Sony Corp.