Google, Rockstar to bury Nortel patent litigation lawsuit

A court filing this week suggests Google Inc has agreed to settle a patent dispute leveled by the Rockstar consortium, of which Apple is a major investor, suggesting the end is in sight for this particular lawsuit.

Rockstar, which counts Apple Inc as an investor, outbid Google and paid $4.5 billion in 2011 for thousands of former Nortel Network Corp patents as the networking products supplier went bankrupt.

In October of last year, when Rockstar sued Google, Samsung and other Android product makers for infringing on seven patents covering Internet searches and advertisements. Each case is separate, but that Google has agreed to settle is considered a major milestone in Apple's legal battle with the Internet giant.

Rockstar, a group of high power tech companies including Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry, Sony and Ericsson, purchased the IP in when Nortel sold off thousands of patents as a result of going bankrupt in 2009.