NASDAQ:SPEX
Products list
| |
Industry | Patent monetization |
Key people |
|
Website |
www |
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]