In case you’re wondering why mobile patent portfolios tend to set off bidding wars, it’s because they’re an incredibly valuable asset in our lawsuit-happy times. Or at least, mobile companies see them that way.

Nokia, after settling its own patent dispute with Apple, has just reached a deal to hand over 2,000 of its patents ^[1] to Canadian company Mosaid. (Microsoft, which has an agreement ^[2] with Nokia to create Windows 7 phones, says it has a “passive economic interest” in the deal.)

Mosaid, in turn, will form a new company with an unusual business model: Generate revenues from lawsuits and settlements based on the 2,000 patents. Rather than being paid for the patents, Nokia will share in the revenue stream.

Sigh. We wish we lived in a world where mobile companies put half as much effort and innovation into creating new products and improving services as they do into suing each other.

Read more at Globe and Mail ^[3].