The US Justice Department is set to allow a consortium of technology companies, including Apple, Ericsson, Microsoft and RIM, to acquire a 6,000-strong patent portfolio from bankrupt telecoms equipment maker Nortel Networks, reports The Wall Street Journal. The US$4.5 billion deal – first announced in July 2011 – attracted antitrust concerns with investigators looking at whether the companies were planning to use the patents to hinder the progress of Google’s Android.