Google posted on its bid for Nortel Patent portfolio.

So after a lot of thought, we’ve decided to bid for Nortel’s patent portfolio in the company’s bankruptcy auction. Today, Nortel selected our bid as the “stalking-horse bid," which is the starting point against which others will bid prior to the auction. If successful, we hope this portfolio will not only create a disincentive for others to sue Google, but also help us, our partners and the open source community—which is integrally involved in projects like Android and Chrome—continue to innovate. In the absence of meaningful reform, we believe it's the best long-term solution for Google, our users and our partners.

The bid is reported to be $900 Mil.

Google bids $900M for Nortel patent portfolio

By Juan Carlos Perez

April 4, 2011 12:13 PM ET

IDG News Service - Google is bidding $900 million in cash for thousands of patents that Nortel will auction off as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, the companies said Monday.

As much as Google has its own patents, it is interesting they are the stalking-horse bid for 4,000-6,000 Nortel patents which you would believe are mostly networking base. But, as their legal department explains they felt this is the best defense.

The tech world has recently seen an explosion in patent litigation, often involving low-quality software patents, which threatens to stifle innovation. Some of these lawsuits have been filed by people or companies that have never actually created anything; others are motivated by a desire to block competing products or profit from the success of a rival’s new technology. The patent system should reward those who create the most useful innovations for society, not those who stake bogus claims or file dubious lawsuits. It's for these reasons that Google has long argued in favor of real patent reform, which we believe will benefit users and the U.S. economy as a whole.