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Do you think the Nortel patents are flaky? I'm no expert but they seem fairly legit as far as patents go (better than the Google Doodle one for starters), but again I'm not expecting them to be used offensively to extract rents or stifle competitors who haven't initiated patent lawsuits.

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No, not at all, and I did not mean to imply this about the Nortel patents in my comment. Indeed, a company like Nortel very likely would have a large grouping of high-quality patents that truly tie to innovative steps it has taken over the years. Google's aim, I assume, is to get these (and whatever happens to come with them) to help fight off flaky patent challenges in the future.

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