Rockstar Consortium Explained

Rockstar Consortium Inc.
Industry:Patent monetization
Traded As:NASDAQ:SPEX

Rockstar Consortium Inc., originally named Rockstar Bidco,[1] is a consortium formed to negotiate licensing for patents acquired from the bankrupt multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer Nortel.[2] [3] Members of the consortium are Apple Inc., BlackBerry, Ericsson, Microsoft, and Sony.[4] Rockstar is a patent holding non-practicing entity (NPE) and submitted the winning US$4.5 billion bid for the Nortel patents at a week-long auction held in New York in June 2011.[5]

Spherix Incorporated, a company founded by Gilbert Levin, has acquired four families of mobile communication patents from the Rockstar Consortium in exchange for initial consideration of up-front cash and Spherix common stock.[6] Rockstar will also receive a percentage of future profits from Spherix after recovery of patent monetization costs and an initial priority return on investment to Spherix.

In 2012, Business Insider listed Rockstar as number 3 on its list of the 8 most fearsome patent trolls in industry.[7] Wired magazine notes that some call them a "straight-up patent troll".[8]

In October 2013, Rockstar had initiated legal action against eight companies,[9] including Google, Huawei and Samsung,[10] as well as other makers of Android phones including Asustek, HTC, LG Electronics, Pantech, and ZTE.[11]

In December 2013, Google initiated legal action against Rockstar, with a countersuit filed in San Jose, California.[12]

In November 2014, it was reported that Rockstar and Google had come to a settlement.[13]

In December 2014, Rockstar agreed to sell 4000 of its patents to RPX Corporation, a defensive patent aggregator.[14]

See also

Notes and References

  1. How Apple and Microsoft Armed 4,000 Patent Warheads. Robert. McMillan. Wired . May 21, 2012. November 1, 2013.
  2. Web site: Rockstar Consortium Launches Patent Attacks . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120601000518/http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/news-apple/rockstar-consortium-launches-patent-attacks-79901 . 2012-06-01 . May 28, 2012 . techweekeurope.co.uk.
  3. Web site: Hill. Bert. April 18, 2012. Transforming Nortel's patents into gold: Rockstar Consortium sets up shop in Kanata. Ottawa Citizen. D1. May 30, 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120419105748/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Transforming+Nortel+patents+into+gold/6474820/story.html. April 19, 2012.
  4. Web site: Rockstar Consortium Receives Green Light From Department Of Justice . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120324052534/http://www.ip-rockstar.com/Press_Releases/RS_PR20120312.pdf . 2012-03-24 .
  5. Web site: Star Man. September 8, 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131102230044/http://www.ip-rockstar.com/Press_Releases/IAM%20Rockstar%20Article%20JulyAugust%202013.pdf. November 2, 2013.
  6. Web site: Spherix Closes Rockstar Patent Acquisition Transaction. September 8, 2013. November 6, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131106204210/http://www.ip-rockstar.com/Press_Releases/Spherix%20-%20Rockstar%20Closing%20PR_%20v2%20072613.pdf. dead.
  7. Web site: Tech's 8 Most Fearsome 'Patent Trolls'. . 2012-11-25. 2013-12-20.
  8. How Apple and Microsoft Armed 4,000 Patent Warheads. Wired . 2012-05-21. 2013-12-20 . McMillan . Robert .
  9. Web site: New Patent cases involving Rockstar. Docket Alarm, Inc.. November 18, 2013.
  10. Web site: Google, Samsung, Huawei sued over Nortel patents. Dan. Levine. Reuters. October 31, 2013.
  11. Web site: Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned "Rockstar" sues Google. Joe. Mullin. Ars Technica. November 1, 2013.
  12. Web site: Google fights back against Rockstar patent group. Michelle Meyers. 26 December 2013. CNET.
  13. Web site: Apple-backed Rockstar ends patent war on Android, deal suggests. Jeff John Roberts. GigaOM. 20 November 2014. 22 November 2014. 21 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141121133913/https://gigaom.com/2014/11/20/apple-ends-patent-war-on-android-deal-suggests/. dead.
  14. Web site: Rockstar Consortium to Sell 4,000 Patents to RPX Corp. for $900 Million. Wall Street Journal. Ashby Jones. 23 December 2014.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rockstar Consortium".

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