European Commission says Motorola Mobility abused market positionApril 29, 2014 - 17:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Commission said Monday, April 28, that Google's Motorola Mobility abused its market position in Europe by refusing to grant crucial technology licenses to rival Apple, then suing Apple for patent infringement when the company used them anyway, the Associated Press reports. Separately, Samsung settled a case where it had tried to use its patents to block Apple from bringing a phone to market. But neither company was slapped with a fine. At a press conference, the Commission's chief competition authority, Joaquin Almunia, said that's because it can be difficult to determine when a company has the right to protect its patents — which drive innovation — and when a dominant company is wielding the power a patent gives them to stifle competition and harm consumers. "We are trying to trike the right balance" between patent holder rights and competition rules, Almunia said in Brussels, where the Commission, the European Union's executive arm, is based. "The Motorola case set up the framework we think should be followed." Almunia said the dividing line should be when patents have become an industry standard. In those cases, if someone wanting to use a patent agrees to pay "fair and reasonable terms" to use it, the holder must agree. In Motorola and other cases, disagreements about what's fair should be referred to arbitration — not used right away to block someone else from bringing a product to market. Ultimately, however, companies may still decide to sue each other over patent infringement, as Apple, Samsung and others have been doing in courts around the world for several years. Samsung agreed Tuesday not to try to seek injunctions against competitors for five years in Europe, and to submit future disagreements to arbitration along the lines Almunia suggested. Google is in the process of selling Motorola to China's Lenovo. Related links: Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |