“BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s competition watchdog on Tuesday opened two investigations into whether Motorola Mobility, which is being bought by Google, is unfairly restricting competitors from accessing essential patents.
The formal investigations were announced after Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. complained to the European Commission that Motorola Mobility was using injunctions against its rivals’ key products — such as the iPhone, iPad or Xbox — as a way of gaining an edge in the market. Apple and Microsoftclaimed that the price Motorola Mobility was demanding for licensing its patents was excessive and its court cases against them illegal.
Motorola Mobility holds patents that are essential for standards linked to 2G and 3G wireless technology — the focus of Apple’s complaint — as well as compressing video for online use and wireless LAN technologies, which are at the heart of Microsoft’s complaint.
The Commission said it “will assess whether Motorola has abusively, and in contravention of commitments it gave to standard setting organizations, used certain of its standard essential patents to distort competition.”
Under EU competition law, companies that hold patents that are essential for industry standards have to make these available to rivals at a fair price. Standards ensure that devices from different producers can interact seamlessly with widely used networks, technologies and each other….”
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