The FTC is looking into whether Motorola is keeping its word to license standard technology to others in a fair manner, according to reports
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating Google's Motorola Mobility unit to determine whether it is stifling innovation in the mobile market by refusing to license certain patents to its competitors, according to published reports.
The FTC's formal probe focuses on pledges Motorola Mobility has made to license to other companies on fair terms industry-standard mobile technology it owns, Bloomberg reported.
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The FTC sent Google the civil investigative demand because the agency is concerned about the antitrust implications of Motorola Mobility's licensing of this technology, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Google recently closed its $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility acquisition after the U.S. Justice Department and other regulatory agencies gave the deal a green light.
The Journal and Bloomberg, which attributed the information in their articles to anonymous sources, received a statement from Google saying that the company takes its "commitments to license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms very seriously and are happy to answer any questions."
According to Bloomberg, the FTC is also seeking information from Microsoft, Apple and others about Google's intentions to license some specific mobile technologies on fair and reasonable terms.
Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.
Nokia: We have a Windows Phone 'contingency plan' - CNET News
Nokia has a plan in its back pocket should a deal with Microsoft fall through, or the forthcoming Windows Phone 8 software update fail to generate interest, according to Nokia's board chairman.
Speaking on his debut television appearance, F-Secure's founder and former chief executive Risto Siilasmaa, who became Nokia's board chairman in May, defended the move to Microsoft's Windows Phone, which replaced the ailing Symbian operating system last year.
But he said Nokia has a "contingency plan" should the forthcoming Windows Phone 8 "fail to live up to expectations," according to a report by Finnish newspaper Yle Uutiset.
In June, Microsoft unwrapped Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco. But the announcement came as bittersweet news, given that owners of current Windows Phone 7-powered devices -- including the high-profile Nokia Lumia -- would not see their smartphones updated to Windows Phone 8.
Nevertheless, Siilasmaa remains confident that the Windows Phone-powered Nokia smartphones would be a success following the company's move to put all its eggs in the same basket with the Microsoft-provided mobile operating system.
What the contingency plan could be, however, remains unknown.
"Symbian's market share has come down close to zero," making a move to a partner mobile operating system inevitable, and a return to Symbian almost impossible. CNET UK considered Android as a possibility, but noted the phone giant would find it difficult to stand out among the crowd of existing Android partners such as Samsung and HTC.
Since Siilasmaa's hiring, Nokia's share price has fallen by a third. In the past year alone, the Finnish-based phone maker has seen its share price fall by more than 80 percent, with its market cap collapsing from $78 billion to $7.8 billion in three years.
Nokia attacks Google Nexus 7 for Wi-Fi patent infringement - Electronista
Nokia likely to request buying license instead of injunctions
Nokia has attacked the recently revealed Google Nexus 7, alleging that it infringes on several wireless patents. A spokesperson for Nokia speaking to The Inquirer claimed that Neither Google nor Asus is licensed under the patent portfolio, and that the companies involved should approach Nokia and establish a license agreement.
The Finnish phone maker claims to have more than 40 licensees, including most of the major mobile device manufacturers. Most of those that sign up with Nokia do so for the standards-essential patent portfolio, part of which is the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard that is believed to be the focus of the legal threats against Google and Asus.
Instead of seeking an injunction to ban the sale of the Google Nexus 7, following the strategy that has become common in other recent cases between hardware manufacturers, Nokia is expected to initially limit its efforts to out-of-court threats and demands for a licensing deal.
Asus has refused to comment on the claims.
US says it will bar some Motorola Mobility phones - msnbc.com
Some Motorola Mobility smartphones infringe on a Microsoft patent and will be barred from importation to the United States, a U.S. trade panel said on Friday.
The order by the U.S. International Trade Commission has been sent to President Barack Obama, who has 60 days to consider whether to overturn it for policy reasons.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBCUniversal.)
The legal fight at the ITC is one of dozens globally between various smartphone makers. Google's Android system has become the top-selling smartphone operating system, ahead of mobile systems by Apple, Microsoft, Research in Motion and others.
On Wednesday, some of HTC's smartphone models were stopped at the U.S. border because it lost a patent dispute with Apple at the ITC in December. Shares in HTC tumbled more than 6 percent on news that shipments of the phones were being held up by U.S. customs.
The ITC order did not say which models of Motorola Mobility smartphone were affected but Microsoft has asked for the following devices to be stopped at the U.S. border: the Atrix, Backflip, Bravo, Charm, Cliq, Cliq 2, Cliq XT, Defy, Devour, Droid 2, Droid 2 Global, Droid Pro, Droid X, Droid X2, Flipout, Flipside, Spice and the Xoom tablet.
The patented technology at issue makes it possible for users to generate meeting requests and schedule gatherings using their mobile devices.
One option for Motorola Mobility will be to remove the meeting-scheduling technology from its smartphones and tablets. The company could also license it from Microsoft.
Motorola Mobility, which is in the process of being acquired by Google, said the company would not feel any near-term impact.
"Although we are disappointed by the commission's ruling that certain Motorola Mobility products violated one patent, we look forward to reading the full opinion to understand its reasoning," the company said in an emailed statement. "We will explore all options including appeal."
Both sides can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Microsoft said it was pleased with the decision. "We hope that now Motorola will be willing to join the vast majority of Android device makers selling phones in the US by taking a license to our patents," a company spokeswoman said via email.
In a complaint filed in October 2010 with the ITC, Microsoft accused Motorola Mobility of infringing nine patents for Windows Mobile and Windows Phone.
Two patents were dropped during litigation. An ITC administrative law judge in December found that Motorola Mobility infringed on one Microsoft patent in making Android cellphones but did not infringe on six others.
Google's Android software has recently become the most popular cellphone operating system with 56 percent of the market in the first quarter of 2012, according to data from Gartner Inc.
Motorola, which makes Android phones, is one of the smaller mobile phone makers with 8.4 million units sold globally in the last quarter, according to Gartner.
The ITC is a popular venue for patent litigation since it has the power to forbid the importation of products that infringe on patents.
The case at the ITC is No. 337-744.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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