WASHINGTON (AP) -- Canadian telecommunications-equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp. spent about $560,000 in 2007 to lobby on patent reform legislation and trade agreement issues.

The company spent $280,000 in the second half of 2007 to lobby Congress, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 15 by the Senate's public records office. It also lobbied on Homeland Security Department appropriations, Internet telephone issues and tax credits for research and development.

The Toronto-based company lobbied on legislation intended to improve patent quality and reduce litigation. Critics charge the bills would weaken patent protections. The House approved patent reform legislation last year, but it's pending in the Senate.

The company spent $282,000 in the first six months of 2007 to lobby on largely the same matters.

Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995.

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