NEW YORK, June 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing bids for 6,000 Nortel Networks Corp. patents an expert said represent a mother lode of intellectual property.
"You're acquiring a stockpile of nuclear weapons as far as patents go," said Alexander Poltorak, chief executive of General Patent Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The patents span the technology landscape, including technology used in WiFi, wireless video and Internet searches, the Journal said.
The department is concerned the winning bidder not use the patents to slow down technology innovation. The antitrust division is already reviewing a $900 million bid from Google Inc. and is expected to review bids from Apple Inc. Research in Motion, which makes BlackBerry phones, is also expected to bid on the treasure trove of patents, which will be auctioned June 20.
