The patent injunction portion of Google?s antitrust settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission this week won?t mean an end to patent disputes between Google and mobile device makers, but it does take away one major threat Google has used against competitors, some patent experts said.
Google, in the settlement announced Thursday, pledged to not seek injunctions in most patent disputes involving standards-essential technologies in the mobile and Web markets. The FTC accused Google, after its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility in May 2012, of reneging on commitments to offer some patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory, or FRAND, terms.
In its statement on the settlement, the FTC said Google engaged in ?unfair methods of competition? and ?unfair acts and practices,? in violation of U.S. law.
The patent portion of the FTC settlement will be important for Google?s competitors in the mobile industry, said Darren Hayes, chairman of the computer information systems department at Pace University in New York City.
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