Novell sold itself to software company Attachmate last month for $2.2 billion. In the process, it also sold the rights to nearly 900 patents to an unnamed consortium of companies "organized by Microsoft." According to information turned over to the German government, that consortium includes Apple, EMC, and Oracle.

FOSS Patents reports that information about CPTN Holdings LLC, the holding company that purchased the rights to 882 patents from Novell, was submitted to the German federal antitrust authority known as "Bundeskartellamt" last week. The filing reveals that Microsoft's partners include Apple, EMC, and Oracle, and that the holding company's primary business is "patents."

Patent litigation between technology companies, particularly over mobile devices and technology, have been big news recently. Microsoft is suing Motorola, Oracle is suing Google, and nearly everyone is either suing Apple or getting sued by Apple. (For its part, EMC doesn't appear to be involved in patent litigation at this time.)

The joint acquisition of these patents may be believed to put the four companies in stronger positions either offensively or defensively against current or future patent disputes. It should be noted that lawsuits from Apple, Oracle, and Microsoft all target Google's Android mobile operating system, which may explain why four large companies banded together to acquire the patents. FOSS Patents noted that such consortiums typically involve a group of smaller companies aligned to a larger one.

Just three days ago it was revealed that Apple and Google were both among a number of companies trying to acquire mobile technology patents held by bankrupt Canadian telecom Nortel. That company has a number of patents related to 3G and 4G networking, including both WiMAX and LTE. After an initial round of bids, Nortel decided to break the patent pool into six different groups to try and keep any one company from acquiring them all.

Even while companies pile on the patent infringement claims against each other, it appears that some—including Apple, which holds the distinction of being the most sued technology company since releasing the iPhone—are padding their already sizable patent portfolios.