Rockstar Consortium

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]

Rockstar Consortium Inc.

Traded as	NASDAQ:SPEX Products list [None]
Industry	Patent monetization
Key people	John Veschi (CEO)
Website	www.ip-rockstar.com

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

• Smartphone wars

References

1. McMillan, Robert (May 21, 2012). "How Apple and Microsoft Armed 4,000 Patent Warheads". Wired. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
2. "Rockstar Consortium Launches Patent Attacks". techweekeurope.co.uk. May 28, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-01.
3. Hill, Bert (April 18, 2012). "Transforming Nortel's patents into gold: Rockstar Consortium sets up shop in Kanata". Ottawa Citizen. p. D1. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
4. "Rockstar Consortium Receives Green Light From Department Of Justice" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-24.
5. "Star Man" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
6. "Spherix Closes Rockstar Patent Acquisition Transaction" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 6, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
7. "Tech's 8 Most Fearsome 'Patent Trolls'". Business Insider. 2012-11-25. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
8. McMillan, Robert (2012-05-21). "How Apple and Microsoft Armed 4,000 Patent Warheads". Wired. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
9. "New Patent cases involving Rockstar". Docket Alarm, Inc. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
10. Levine, Dan (October 31, 2013). "Google, Samsung, Huawei sued over Nortel patents". Reuters.
11. Mullin, Joe (November 1, 2013). "Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned "Rockstar" sues Google". Ars Technica.
12. Michelle Meyers (26 December 2013). "Google fights back against Rockstar patent group". CNET.
13. Jeff John Roberts (20 November 2014). "Apple-backed Rockstar ends patent war on Android, deal suggests". GigaOM. Archived from the original on 21 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
14. Ashby Jones (23 December 2014). "Rockstar Consortium to Sell 4,000 Patents to RPX Corp. for $900 Million". Wall Street Journal.