The purchase of patents from bankrupt technology company Nortel by a consortium including Apple and Microsoft has been approved by judges in the United States and Canada.

The consortium, which also includes Sony, Ericsson, EMC and Blackberry makers Research In Motion, won the auction last week with a bid of $4.5 billion, eclipsing a $900 million offer from Google.

Nortel filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and has been selling of its assets bit by bit since then.

The purchase is the latest blow in a long-running patent war between the rival smartphone manufacturers.