“A U.S. antitrust regulator has opened a formal probe into whether Google Inc.’s Motorola Mobility unit is honoring pledges it made to license industry-standard technology for mobile and other devices on fair terms, three people familiar with the situation said,” Sara Forden reports for Businessweek. “The Federal Trade Commission has issued a civil investigative demand, which is similar to a subpoena, to the owner of the Android mobile operating system as it scrutinizes whether Google is improperly blocking rivals’ access to patents for key smartphone technology, one of the people said.”
“The agency is also seeking information from companies including Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. as it investigates whether Google intends to license technology under patents that help operate 3G wireless, Wi-Fi and video streaming on fair and reasonable terms, another one of the people said,” Forden reports. “Another focus of the FTC probe, the person said, is Google’s decision to continue litigation started by Motorola Mobility over industry-standard patents before Google bought the company.”
Forden reports, “Industry-standard technology helps ensure that different manufacturers’ products, such as mobile phone antennas and global-positioning system software, work together. Companies that create technology that helps develop the agreed-upon industry standard pledge to license patents for those inventions on reasonable terms. The FTC investigation follows the opening of formal probes of Motorola Mobility and Samsung Electronics Co. for the same issues by the European Commission earlier this year.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: SupercaliFRANDilisticexpialidocious!
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Apple racks up FRAND win against Motorola Mobility in Germany – February 27, 2012
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Please let there be a couple billion dollar fine and removing FRAND ownership to make them public domain! Kick those MFers hard in the ass for their desperate criminal behavior.
anything that should be considered remotely standard essential or a standard for the industry should be licensed by the standard comity. such patents should not cost anything to use if they are standard essential. and the inventor owns it but does not control it
it has been a while gaining momentum, but google is going to get hit by a tsunami.
And a proctologist
And a herpetologist!
You keep using that word “herpetologist”. I do not think it means what you think it means.
the branch of zoology concerned with reptiles and amphibians.
I think he knows the word and how to use it but its damn funny
ahh, but its a funny word
the branch of medicine concerned with the anus and rectum.
Decision to investigate sends a message to Google along with the recent import bans of Sammy and Google branded CopyUs iPonhey Smart-RipOff POS ……
Apple will now more for injunction against newest SamDung products …..
Slamdung and Stroodle all going Caboodle.
Smirk ;/)
Good one! Still laughing!
While its fun to speculate,, I would guess that they will do what Europe did, Make FRAND companies license at at fair rate. Apple will settle with a large payment for past items and s set reasonable rate for the future.
The key thing is not Apple paying, but the lawsuit goes away for Motorola and Samsung for FRAND issues.
That really is all Apple and Microsoft wants to do, Apple has offered no less than six times before this went to trial reasonable rates for frand licensing from motogoogle. They have been told both of them that motogoogles price is 2.5% of the sales of the end products that use them. So Motogoogle wants 2.5% of the revenue from the iPhone, iPad, xBox, Windows (each copy of windows), and Mac book pros and Airs as well.
That is extortion. No company would accept those terms, and none should. In apple and microsofts case they both use chips from a third party vendor that implement those standards and that vendor has paid the royalties already. Which would amount to about a nickel for every chip sold. Instead Motogoole wants 2.5% of the end price of any products that use them. Which is double dipping and illegal.
As well as the price being around 4000% above the frand rate.