The Nortel Patent auction looks to have been just the first in a series of bidding wars between Apple and Google, as reports now indicate both companies may now be interested in InterDigital, a wireless patent firm. Apple was part of the winning $4.5 billion Nortel patent bid, and according to their 10-K filings, it appears their share of that bid was $2.6 billion.
Google may have lost that one -- we'll know for sure when the dust settles and the sale is finalized -- but if InterDigital is any indication, they've only begun to fight. Apple licensed InterDigital patents back in 2007 for a 7 year period, but given the stakes, Google might just try to secure as many wireless patents as they can to protect themselves, and the Android platform, from potential lawsuits.
