Microsoft Files EU Antitrust Claim Against Motorola Mobility – BusinessWeek

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp. filed a complaint
with European antitrust regulators saying Motorola Mobility
Holdings Inc. and Google Inc. are trying to block sales of
personal computers and game consoles that run its software.

Motorola Mobility is violating a pledge to license
industry-standard patents on fair terms and “demanding that
Microsoft take its products off the market,” Microsoft said in
a blog post. Apple Inc. has also filed a complaint to the
European Union over Motorola Mobility’s licensing terms.

“We have taken this step because Motorola is attempting to
block sales of Windows PCs, our Xbox game console and other
products,” Microsoft said. Legal actions by Motorola Mobility
to enforce its patents may “kill” video-streaming services on
the Internet, Microsoft said.

Motorola Mobility, Microsoft, Samsung Electronics Co. and
Apple are involved in numerous patent lawsuits in Europe as
demand for smartphones and tablets soar. Google, which is buying
Libertyville, Illinois-based Motorola Mobility for $12.5
billion, has written to groups that establish industry standards
to assure them it will license Motorola Mobility patents on a
fair and reasonable basis.

‘Step Back’

“Watching video on the Web is one of the primary uses of
computers these days,” Microsoft said in its statement.
“Imagine what a step back it would be if we could no longer
watch videos on our computing devices or connect via Wi-Fi, or
if only some products, but not others, had these capabilities,”
it said.

“We are yet to receive a copy of the complaint, but
Motorola is committed to vigorously defending its intellectual
property,” Gemma Goatly, a spokeswoman for Motorola Mobility,
said in an e-mail.

Microsoft’s complaint also covers Google because the firm
hasn’t committed to changing Motorola Mobility’s policy, the
Redmond, Washington-based company said.

“Microsoft’s complaint is just another example of their
attempts to use the regulatory process to attack competitors,”
Niki Fenwick, a spokesperson for Google, said in an e-mailed
statement. “It’s particularly ironic given their track record
in this area and collaboration with patent trolls.”

The European Commission has “received this complaint and
we will examine it,” Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for EU
antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia, said in an e-mail. Samsung is
already being investigated by EU antitrust regulators over
whether it broke licensing commitments.

‘Playground Monitor’

“The European Commission is a little bit, in this context,
like the playground monitor when it comes to U.S. technology
companies,” said Andrew Updegrove, a lawyer with Gesmer
Updegrove LLP in Boston who advises standard-setting boards on
intellectual property policies.

“It’s really a kind of scuffle where everyone tries to
bend the ear of the European Commission to make life
uncomfortable for their rivals,” Updegrove said.

Motorola Mobility also has filed complaints against Apple
and Microsoft at the U.S. International Trade Commission in
Washington, to block imports of Apple’s iPhone and Microsoft’s
xBox into the U.S. Apple and Microsoft have argued that the
agency shouldn’t issue exclusion orders when the patents are
essential to industry standards.

Both Microsoft and Apple have said they wouldn’t seek a
court order to block use of technology covered by industry-
standard patents even as they pursue infringement claims over
non-essential patents against Motorola Mobility.

Google has said it would seek a royalty fee of no more than
2.25 percent of the net cost of devices using its patents, and
would try to resolve any disputes through negotiation before
asking courts to block use of the Motorola Mobility technology.

“We are aware of the increasingly strategic use of patents
in the sector and are vigilant,” the EU’s Almunia said Feb. 13.
“We can avoid a continuation of this patent war.”

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net
Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net