“Google Inc.’s Motorola Mobility unit will respond to European Union accusations that it used patents to hinder competitors, including Apple Inc.,” Stephanie Bodoni reports for Bloomberg.
“The European Commission organized a day-long oral hearing on the matter taking place today in Brussels, said Katie Dove, a spokeswoman for Motorola Mobility,” Bodoni reports. “The EU antitrust regulator in May sent a formal complaint to Motorola Mobility saying it suspects the company, which Google bought last year for $12.4 billion, is abusing its dominant position by ‘seeking and enforcing’ injunctions against Apple in Germany based on its patents that are essential for products to comply with industry technical standards.
Bodoni reports, “They accused Motorola Mobility of seeking injunctions to block their use of patents they said the Google unit had declared essential for the production of standard-compliant products and had promised to license on terms that are ‘fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory.’ Samsung Electronics Co. offered to settle a similar probe by the EU into its hold on so-called standard-essential patents, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said last week. The EU is reviewing the offer.”
Read more in the full article here.
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No way the EU should accept Samsungs criminal “offer”.
Unless it’s in the billions and billions of painful dollars. It should be drafted that anyone attempting to use FRAND patents against others automatically lose those patent rights. That would stop that in a hurry,
Fines have zero deterrence power if guilt is not admitted when the EU found them guilty of that behaviour. Absence of repentir may have even more suits filed starting the next week with the same objective, just less or no standard-essential patents.
More extortion, payoffs & bribes all around. Apple EARNED their place atop the mountain.
At least Europe is doing something about it.