Having blanched at spending more than $4.5 billion for the 6,000 Nortel patents that were supposed to help it build a fortress against infringement claims - even if some of the money was Intel's - patent-short Google is reportedly talking acquisition with InterDigital, whose wireless IP could reportedly help protect its litigation-attracting Android franchise.
InterDigital reportedly holds and licenses 8,800 mostly handset-style patents on things like transmitting wireless data and canceling noise interference.
Google's interest reportedly led InterDigital to hire Evercore Partners and Barclays Capital to explore strategic alternatives that could of course lead to, oh, say Apple and Microsoft.
Up on the rumors, InterDigital has a market cap of $3.35 billion. The Wall Street Journal says it would want to be paid for the value of the patents plus their licenses fees long-term.