| NASDAQ:SPEX Products list
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| Industry | Patent monetization |
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| Website | www |
Rockstar Consortium Inc., originally namedRockstar Bidco,[1] is aconsortium formed to negotiate licensing forpatents acquired from the bankrupt multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturerNortel.[2][3] Members of the consortium areApple Inc.,BlackBerry,Ericsson,Microsoft, andSony.[4] Rockstar is apatent 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 byGilbert 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 fearsomepatent 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] includingGoogle,Huawei andSamsung,[10] as well as other makers ofAndroid phones includingAsustek,HTC,LG Electronics,Pantech, andZTE.[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 toRPX Corporation, adefensive patent aggregator.[14]
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