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EU finds Motorola Mobility licensing anti-competitive
2014-04-29 12:18:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) EU competition authorities have found that Motorola Mobility abused its dominant market position by seeking an injunction against Apple sales for alleged violations of a standards-essential patent held by Motorola. While the European Commission held off on fining Motorola, as there is no existing case law to determine such a sanction, it ordered the company to undo the negative effects of the injunction obtained from a German court. The patents in question covered the GPRS standard. Motorola pursued an injunction against sales of Apple devices, despite Apple agreeing to take a licence to the technology at royalty terms set by the German court. The smartphone patent wars in recent years have led to authorities in the US and Europe investigating numerous manufacturers for possible anti-competitive behaviour. A general consensus has emerged that injunctions based on alleged infringement of patented technology deemed essential to industry standards are an unacceptable form of competition. This is the first time the EU has confirmed the stance in a ruling against a specific company. In a separate case, it announced that Samsung has agreed to not pursue such injunctions in Europe, in order to avoid sanctions from the competition authorities. It agreed to pursue licensing agreements on FRAND terms with competitors, with the terms settled in court or by an arbiter if needed.
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Category:Telecommunications