Finally, a governing body is waking up to the reality that a growing number of mobile phone lawsuits are used as weapons against their rivals. According to a report in Reuters, the EU is “concerned” that intellectual property rights are being used to shut down the sales of a competitor’s products and stifle innovation.
Speaking to reporters, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said, “standardisation and IP rights are two instruments that in this new IT sector can be used as a tool to abuse.” The EU commissioner points to Apple and Samsung’s legal battle as a potential example of this type of abuse. The two manufacturers are engaged in a heated exchange of over 20 lawsuits in 10 different countries. Most of the filings contain injunction requests which ask the court to ban the sales of their rival’s tablet and smartphone devices. In some countries, like Australia, these requests were granted.
To investigate this trend, the EU asked Samsung and Apple for information about the patents cited in their various cases. The group is examining each companies’ tactics to make sure they comply with the EU’s strict anti-competitive policies. An earlier report suggests Samsung may have violated EU policies when it sued Apple using patents for 3G technology. These patents may be covered by FRAND which requires companies to provide fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing of patents that cover wireless standards like 3G. The EU can fine a business and issue other sanctions if it finds a company has violated its policies.
[Reuters]