Microsoft-Organized Consortium Buying Novell Patents Are Apple, Oracle, MS, and EMC - Updated 5Xs

"It's being reported on MacRumors that the members of the consortium put together by Microsoft to buy the 882 patents from Novell are Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, and EMC:

"Breaking news: Twitter user @VM_gville just pointed me to the website of the German federal antitrust authority ("Bundeskartellamt"), which discloses a merger (or more precisely, joint venture) notification filed a week ago (on 09 December 2010), according to which the four companies behind CPTN Holdings LLC -- the acquirer of 882 Novell patents -- are Microsoft, Apple, EMC, and Oracle. The product market in which the newly formed company plans to operate is defined as "patents"

"Here's the page where you can see the notation on the Bundeskartellamt website:

"09.12.2010 - B5-148/10 - Unternehmen:

"Microsoft, Apple, EMC u. Oracle / CPTN Holdings LLC (Anteilserw.+GU-Gründung)

"Produktmärkte: Patente

"So what's the common interest? "Let's all kill Android"? There's a limit on that, in that Google is also an Open Invention Network member, so it has a license to these Novell patents already. Of course there could be more than one theme, virtualization, office suites."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• OraGoogle - The Jockeying for Position Begins in Earnest with Dueling Protective Orders(Dec 15, 2010)
• Google's Motion to Dismiss Paul Allen's Patent Infringement Complaint Granted(Dec 13, 2010)
• About Those 882 Novell Patents: This is Where OIN Comes In(Dec 08, 2010)
• Oracle's Reply to Google's Answer with Counterclaims(Dec 02, 2010)
• Editor's Note: Thank You(Nov 24, 2010)
• Novell Agrees to be Acquired by AttachMate; Sells Some IP to a MS-Organized Consortium(Nov 23, 2010)
• Google et al Argue with Paul Allen's Interval Licensing: One Big Case or 11? Or None?(Nov 22, 2010)