The fight for patents intensifies.
Google has received clearance from US and EU antitrust regulators and will move forward in its $12.5 billion quest for cellphone manufacturer, Motorola Mobility. Google’s proposed acquisition of Motorola marks the biggest deal in its 13-year history.
But Google’s fight is not over yet. First, the search engine giant must clear regulatory hurdles in China, Taiwan and Israel in order to take control of Motorola Mobility Holdings.
The move would allow Google to expand its activities into manufacturing phones, tablet computers and consumer devices. Don Harrison, vice president and deputy general counsel, said in a Google Blog post that it would ‘supercharge the Android and enhance competition.’
Indeed, the acquisition would give the California-based company control of more than 17,000 Motorola patents; and, in the process, increase substantially its ammunition in the battle against Microsoft and Apple for market share.
However, Joaquín Almunia, EU Competition Commissioner, notes that it will ‘continue to keep a close eye on the behavior of all market players in the sector, particularly the increasingly strategic use of patents’.
The DoJ also agreed to crackdown on any telltale signs of mobile patents being used to fuel unfair competitive practices.
