Stefan Mileschin

Following the latest trend to buy up patents for things you didn't invent in just to make sure you are not sued, Intel has just bought shedloads from InterDigital.

InterDigital has announced that it will sell 1,700 wireless technology patents for $375 million.

Chipzilla is keen to push into mobile devices and it wants to make sure that its technology is covered. InterDigital has been trying to sell its portfolio as the world and its dog tries to get its paws on wireless patents.

InterDigital has been close to trying to sell itself off, but the deals always fell through. Investors instead wanted the company to have a go at getting rid of its patents to get a few bucks.

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon told Reuters that the $220,000 price per patent that Intel agreed to pay appeared to be much lower than previously announced patent deals.

It looks like Intel got a good deal if you compare it to Nortel's $4.5 billion patent sale last year that fetched $750,000 per patent and Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, which implies a price of more than $735,000 per patent.

http://news.techeye.net/business/int...m-interdigital