Apple has received the green light to bid on Nortel's patent portfolio after having been reviewed for any anticompetitive conflicts. This adds Apple to the group of Department of Justice-approved bidders, which also includes Google and Intel. The companies will begin bidding on the highly valued patents beginning next Monday.

It came out late last year that Apple and Google were among the companies expected to bid on the bankrupt Canadian telecom's patents—specifically those that relate to 3G and 4G wireless technology, including Long Term Evolution (LTE). Last month, however, both companies found themselves being reviewed by the US Department of Justice to ensure winning bids wouldn't spark anticompetitive actions, especially since Apple has a recent history of "[asserting] intellectual property rights against other companies."

Now, however, the Federal Trade Commission has given Apple the green light, as noted by the Wall Street Journal, with Google receiving approval last week. In addition to Apple and Google, Intel was also given the go-ahead by the FTC on Friday, and Ericsson AB is said to be in on the action as well. Reuters claims that RPX Corp., a "patent risk mitigation services" company, is also planning to make a bid, while Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE has shown an interest in bidding on the LTE portions of the portfolio. RIM has also long been known as a potential bidder, but analysts seem to think the company will be outbid by the likes of Apple and Google early on.

Google already made an opening bid of $900 million earlier this year, so the others will have to step up if they want the patents for themselves. And step up they undoubtedly will, but for how much? "You need to add in a fear premium from most of the people you hear that are attached to this auction," an unnamed source told Reuters. "I think for certain people it would be a bad thing if other people got their hands on these patents."