EU bids to stem ‘aggressive’ patent legal actions between tech companies

The European Commission moved yesterday to stem aggressive patent lawsuits by smartphone and tablet makers against rivals, ruling that Motorola Mobility had broken EU law by taking such action against Apple.

In a dual ruling, the commission said that it had also accepted a pledge by Samsung Electronics not to seek injunctions against rivals if they had signed up to a licensing agreement for smartphones or tablets.

The landmark ruling will help draw a line under a long-running feud between smartphone makers and a slew of legal action against rivals by manufacturers who claimed they had copied their designs.

No fine will be imposed on Motorola, now owned by Google. Case law on the point was unclear.

The commission ruled nonetheless that it was abusive for Motorola to seek an injunction against Apple in Germany on the basis of a ‘standard-essential’ patent it had committed to license. Apple had agreed to buy a licence and pay royalties.

It ordered Motorola to resolve its dispute with Apple through arbitration.

“The so-called smartphone patent wars should not occur at the expense of consumers,” said EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia. “While patent holders should be fairly remunerated for the use of their intellectual property, implementers of such standards should also get access to standardised technology on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.”

The patent wars underscore the battle for market share in the lucrative mobile phone industry. The world’s top smartphone makers, Samsung and Apple, are suing each other in more than 10 countries.