The move winds down a brief but nasty chapter in smartphone patent disputes. The Consortium was formed in 2011 with the goal of acquiring 6,000 patents (mostly for chips, optical and wireless tech) from an ailing Nortel. Even then, the intentions were pretty clear: Rockstar was determined to keep the intellectual property out of Google's hands and eventually sue Android's partners in order to punish the competition. To a limited extent, this strategy worked. Cisco, Google and Huawei settled their respective suits, and it looked like the holdouts would have to give in for a while.

The firms behind Rockstar haven't said just why they're bowing out, but patent suits aren't the hot stuff they used to be. Apple has been negotiating truces with its former targets and wrapping up its remaining lawsuits; BlackBerry doesn't have as much clout as it used to, and Microsoft now gets royalties from most Android manufacturers. Simply put, these companies likely don't have the heart (or in some cases, resources) to keep their battles going. Cashing out lets them recoup some of their investments and focus more on competing through their products, not the courtroom -- y'know, like they were supposed to be doing all along.