DoJ ramping up antitrust probe of $4.5B Nortel patent purchase by Apple, others

DoJ ramping up antitrust probe of $4.5B Nortel patent purchase by Apple, others | NmUrRhmn.COM:

However, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department is deepening its probe of the deal, with particular interest to whether the purchasers could use the patents to “unfairly hobble” devices running Google’s Android mobile OS. The search giant placed the initial bid in the auction, but was unable to outbid its competitors once Apple teamed up with the other companies.

According to the report, the DoJ can still “impose conditions” on the companies even though the deal has already been completed. Earlier this year, the federal agency put pressure on a deal that would have seen Microsoft, Apple and Oracle purchase patents from Novell, instead forcing Microsoft to license the patents.