The anti-competition division of the European Commission has opened up two formal investigations probing Motorola Mobility after complaints were launched against the company by its rivals Microsoft and Apple, demanding the knowledge of how Motorola uses its patents against them. The commission issued a statement which aims at revealing any foul play on Motorola’s part in using its standard essential patents to disrupt competition in the market. This is considered a breach of EU’s antitrust rules. To be specific, investigators are trying to assess if Motorola Mobility has gone back on its word by trying to win injunctions against key products like Apple’s iPad and Microsoft’s Xbox. So, the real question being asked now is whether Motorola’s use of its standard patents is justified or not?
Motorola had given FRAND commitments to most relevant organizations which set such standards. This commitment was made around the same time as second and third generation mobile telecommunication standards were beginning to enter the market. The famous H.264 video compression standard and WLAN (Wireless local area network) standard were all part of this commitment. The commission also voiced out its concerns by stating that FRAND commitments need to honoured and followed by every concerned company, which will in turn ensure undistorted competition and also preserve the economic effects of setting such standards. Motorola politely responded to these developments by saying that they would closely work with the European Commission to resolve the matter. Responding through an email to the EC, Motorola mobility said that it is committed to preserving FRAND obligations and will dedicate itself to preserving antitrust laws.
Apple and Microsoft on the other hand have claimed that Motorola has used unfair terms in licensing deals it is trying to broker and demanding substantial amounts of cash and proportional number of patents in return for intellectual property. Motorola retaliated by stating that companies like Apple were offered agreements which they eventually refused. So, in its opinion Motorola was left with no choice but to settle things in court.
The EC has said that it will be looking into the aforementioned allegations. The timing of this investigation could not have been better as both Motorola and Microsoft are awaiting the result of a pending lawsuit pertaining to the H.264 video standard. Microsoft has asked the intervention of a US judge, as issuing a ban on such sensitive patents would intrude on a case in the Washington Court. Microsoft even blamed Motorola for shifting its European software distribution hub into the Netherlands and out of Germany.
