On the evening of September 13, Beijing time, EU antitrust commissioner Joaquin Almunia announced that the investigation by the European Commission into whether Samsung and Motorola Mobility have abused key patents to strike against their competitor Apple is nearing its end.
Almunia stated that the European Commission will clarify its position on patents related to standards in two separate cases involving Samsung and Motorola Mobility. He indicated that the European Commission has prepared its decisions, but the timing for their release does not entirely depend on the commission.
The European Commission is attempting to crack down on the abuse of patents. In recent years, Samsung, Motorola Mobility, Microsoft, and Apple have filed patent lawsuits in multiple countries around the world. Almunia has issued statements of opposition to both Samsung and Motorola Mobility, outlining the EU's concerns over potential monopolistic behavior. He also mentioned that he is currently focused on establishing "rules of the game" to prevent companies from using inventions in an unfair way to strike against competitors.
Almunia said: "We have a few other cases to resolve, but they don't have as high a priority as these two." In the case involving Samsung, the European Commission is attempting to reach a settlement agreement. Almunia remarked: "I won't predict the date for announcing the decision, because it doesn't depend solely on my wishes."
According to agreements within the mobile phone industry regarding standards, companies holding necessary technology patents must provide their technology to competitors under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory principles. Since 2011, Samsung has been seeking bans on the sale of Apple products in EU member states, claiming that these products infringe upon its 3G technology patents.
The EU also launched a similar investigation into Motorola Mobility in April 2012. Prior to this, the EU had received complaints from Microsoft and Apple regarding Motorola Mobility. (Zhang Fan)