Consortium including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony snags Nortel patents for $4.5 billion

News that Google had competition for a bundle of patents being sold by bankrupt Nortel Networks surfaced a week ago and now it's official; a consortium of companies including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony won the multi-day auction with a bid of $4.5 billion. According to Reuters, RIM contributed $770 million to the effort while Ericsson is on the hook for $340 million when the deal closes, which is expected to be in the third quarter of this year. What they'll do with the over 6,000 patents and patent applications covering everything from wireless to optical to semiconductors isn't immediately clear, but what won't happen is Google using them as leverage to stave off the patent trolling hordes. Before any of that happens, the sale has to clear US and Canadian courts which is why a joint hearing has been scheduled for July 11th, so expect plenty of words -- and probably a few more cross licensing agreements -- from the involved parties by then.