EU: Google’s Motorola sent formal abuse of dominance complaint

The European Commission has officially issued a complaint against Motorola Mobility Holdings unit concerning the company’s practice of preventing its rivals from using essential technology patents through court injunctions. According to reports, the company, which was acquired by Google for $12.4 billion in 2012, has imposed “unjustified licensing terms on patent licenses” and abused its dominant position, a result from owning the standard essential patents. The statement from the European Commission was issued Monday. The move by the Commission is the latest development in an international debate concerning those patents and how ownership affects market competition. The statement has implications for companies other than Motorola as it argued dominant owners of SEPs should not be able to use court injunctions to prohibit a rivals’ use of a patent. The deal may soon add to the debate concerning “patent trolls” as well, which are companies that buy patents – often without manufacturing a product at all – to levy that ownership against other companies who are then forced to pay for use of that patent.