The Nortel patents auction saga took another twist Wednesday when Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis said that his government will hold an investigation into the sale to establish whether it complies with the terms of the Investment Canada Act.

The patent dispute between Apple and Samsung has escalated another few notches with Samsung’s announcement Wednesday that it will seek to ban imports of Apple’s devices into the United States.

China is Apple’s second largest market for apps, after America. App analysis firm Distimo’s latest report reveals that, while the Asian app market is booming, it’s not exactly a gold rush: free applications rule the roost, with paid-for offerings only driving about a third of the revenue they do in the US.

Nokia has announced the settlement of a long-running patent spat with Apple. Under the terms of the agreement, Apple will pay an undisclosed lump sum as well as ongoing royalty payments for its use of patents Nokia claims belong to it. Both parties have agreed to withdraw their respective complaints to the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

As interest in defunct kit maker Nortel’s patent portfolio heightens, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) is reported to be taking a close interest in the bidders. Apple is the latest company reported to be interested in making a purchase after Google opened bidding with a $900m offer in April. Now the DoJ is said to be concerned that the patents will be used to stymie competition in the telecoms sector.

As tit-for-tat patent infringement litigation steps up a few notches in the telecoms world, people with a sense of irony will no doubt appreciate the news that Microsoft has signed up as the first member of a new organisation challenging specious software patents. The company that has threatened the likes of Salesforce and TomTom over their use of Linux (which Redmond claims infringes on Microsoft IP – an assertion that has yet to be tested in court) has signed up for Litigation Avoidance, a crowdsourcing service “designed to help companies analyse and act on patents of questionable quality.”

While the signs are that the next iPhone will not feature LTE, Apple has “reached consensus” with China Mobile on the use of the carrier’s forthcoming TDD-LTE network for a future iPhone.