Microsoft Follows Apple’s Suite, Filled An EU Antitrust Complaint Against Motorola Mobility

Posted on Feb 22 2012 - 2:34pm by Editorial Staff

Microsoft, which somehow looks like following Apple’s lead, has announced today that it has filed an antitrust complaint against Motorola Mobility with the European Commission over the patents related to online video – the software giant in a post today, entitled “Google: Please Don’t Kill Video on the Web,” accuses Motorola Mobility saying, “Motorola is on a path to use standard essential patents to kill video on the Web, and Google as its new owner doesn’t seem to be willing to change course.”

“For a $1,000 laptop, Motorola is demanding that Microsoft pay a royalty of $22.50 for its 50 patents on the video standard, called H.264. As it turns out, there are at least 2,300 other patents needed to implement this standard. They are available from a group of 29 companies that came together to offer their H.264 patents to the industry on FRAND terms. Microsoft’s patent royalty to this group on that $1,000 laptop?”

Two cents.

That’s right. Just 2 cents for use of more than 2,300 patents. (Windows qualifies for a nice volume discount, but no firm has to pay more than 20 cents per unit.) Motorola is demanding that Microsoft pay more than 1,000 times that for use of just 50 patents.”

While last year after suspending the hearings by EU regulators early last December to seek more information about Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, the commission sets February 13 as a deadline for the mulling the deal – and with what the news confirmed last week that European Commission as well as U.S. Department of Justice approved Google’s proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which the company announced in August.

As with Apple, the company submitted its own complaint last week, alleged abuse of patents it holds which are required to be licensed to others on ’fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory‘ (FRAND) terms – the iPhone maker has filed an European Union antitrust complaint against Motorola Mobility – the complaint emerged in Motorola Mobility’s latest annual report.

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