Google Says It Will License Motorola's Patents at Fair Rates
Feb 8, 2012, 5:18 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Google today moved to reassure the IEEE and government regulators that it will be reasonable when it comes to licensing Motorola's standard essential patents once Google owns Motorola. When the acquisition is finalized, Google will own some 17,000 patents, many of them centering on wireless technologies such as 3G and H.264. Google said that it "understands that, pursuant to IEEE rules, [Motorola Mobility] is prepared to grant licenses for Essential Patent Claims with a maximum per-unit royalty of 2.25%." Apple has called into question Motorola's patent licensing terms, and believes that the company is not following the fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) policy. It has asked the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to set guidelines that determine how companies license patents that are considered "essential" for certain products, including smartphones. This is the same issue that has caused the European Commission to examine how Samsung is using its own patents to fire off litigation at competitors.
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