EU: Motorola Abused Position By Seeking Patent-Related Injunction Against Apple

Multi-party global tech cat fight continues

Motorola Mobility abuses its dominant position in the E.U. by seeking and enforcing an injunction against Apple in Germany on the basis of its mobile phone standard-essential patents (SEPs), the European Commission said in a preliminary antitrust review of the case on Monday.

The Commission opened the investigation into Motorola Mobility in April 2012 to scrutinize whether it abuses its patents that are deemed essential to an industry standard to get a sales ban on products of the infringing party. Such conduct may be abusive if the potential licensee is willing to enter into a licence on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, the Commission said in a news release.