Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics is apparently interested “in InterDigital’s patent portfolio and has been identified as a potential bidder”, according to media reports.

Bloomberg News said Samsung is “looking at the patents” as are Apple and Google (News - Alert). InterDigital has patents on mobile technology. They number around 8,800 and are used in such devices as the iPhone, Google’s Android OS handsets and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry. The company has sought out bankers for a possible sale.

InterDigital invented technology for high-speed mobile phone networks, Bloomberg (News - Alert) said.

A sale may lead to more than $5 billion, Bloomberg added. Eastman Kodak and other technology companies are also in the process of selling patent portfolios. Bloomberg notes that smartphone sales are projected to close to double to $1.1 billion in 2015, citing data from Gartner (News - Alert) Inc.

“InterDigital has a lot of key patents,” Lee Seung Woo, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities, told Bloomberg. “The fight between Apple (News - Alert) and Samsung is getting serious, so if the assets go to Apple, it could be pretty risky for Samsung. To hedge the risk, Samsung could go ahead with bidding, although they may have to pay a big premium.”

“Mostly related to the transfer of information over mobile technology, InterDigital’s patent portfolio is basically a gold mine in the eyes of these phone makers,” adds The Washington Post in its analysis.

Samsung is already in patent battles with Apple.

Apple claimed Samsung’s Galaxy devices “slavishly” copied its own products in violation of patent law, Bloomberg reported.

The Washington Post also reported that “if Apple snags the portfolio, Samsung is in a really risky situation. Though no game-changing legal rulings have been issued, this lawsuit has reached critical mass, with both companies trying to ban imports of the others’ products.”

In a related matter, because of Samsung’s patent lawsuit with Apple, Samsung will delay the release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia until the lawsuit is resolved, TMCnet said.

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple was granted an injunction to ban Samsung from selling its tablet until the company wins court approval or resolves the lawsuit, TMCnet added. 

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