Mosaid Technologies Inc. is a co-defendant, along with Microsoft and Nokia, in
an antitrust case brought by Google before the European Commission.
OTTAWA — An Ottawa-based patent company is named as part of a major antitrust
complaint from Google that accuses Microsoft and Nokia of using patents to
thwart competition.
Mosaid Technologies Inc. is a co-defendant, along with Microsoft and Nokia, in
an antitrust case brought by Google before the European Commission.
The search giant charges its rivals with off-loading patents to Mosaid and
letting the Canadian company act as a "patent troll," aggressively pursuing
intellectual property litigation to frustrate Google's ambitions in the mobile
marketplace.
In 2011, Google claims, Microsoft and Nokia transferred some 2,000 patents to
Mosaid with the expectation that the patent licensing and intellectual property
firm would use the documents to file lawsuits against Google and other
competitors.
Most of the patents relate to industry standards for wireless technology, and
Microsoft has publicly pledged it wouldn't use such patents to block competitors
from the market.
But off-loading the patents to a third party provides an easy way for Microsoft
to wash its hands of the litigation but still reap the benefits, Google claims.
"Nokia and Microsoft are colluding to raise the costs of mobile devices for
consumers, creating patent trolls that sidestep promises both companies have
made," Mountain View, California-based Google said in an emailed statement.
These "patent trolls" use exclusive rights to a product idea to demand royalties
rather than to make products.
Even though the practice of patent litigation is perfectly legal, the sheer
number of patents in the technology industry concerning software and proprietary
designs has made an effective legal department the cornerstone of any major
digital company.
Companies have been suing one another over everything from the way users
interact with cellular phones through to camera technology and even the wireless
technologies that allow most modern devices to work.
Collecting a trove of patents is seen as the best defence against litigation, as
it allows companies to negotiate to share technology and avoid ending up in
court.
According to Google, the deal with Mosaid gives Microsoft and Nokia a share of
any proceeds the Canadian company gets from licensing the patents. Mosaid hasn't
seen Google's complaint and so couldn't comment, said Michael Salter, a Mosaid
spokesman. The company was taken private in December in a transaction led by
Chicago- based Sterling Partners.
Mosaid's Core Wireless unit, which holds the patents obtained from Microsoft and
Nokia, filed a patent suit in February against Apple.
Mosaid sold five patent families for $11 million in September. Google was later
identified as the buyer.
When the deal was announced in September of last year, Mosaid shares rose to
their highest level in more than a year.
That helped to prevent a takeover bid from rival Ottawa patent and licensing
firm Wi-LAN Inc., which does similar litigation.
The complex deal involved a Luxembourg holding company that controlled many of
Nokia's patents regarding cellular technology.
The deal came after the announcement of a major partnership between Microsoft
and Nokia to distribute cellphones based on the rebooted Windows Phone operating
system. The Nokia Lumia 900, the result of this agreement, went on sale in
Canada in April. Google's antitrust complaint is the latest in a long-running
patent war between big tech firms. It may prompt an investigation by the same
European Union antitrust authority that is probing Google's Motorola Mobility
over its use of patents in litigation against Microsoft and Apple Inc.
Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for the European Commission in Brussels,
confirmed that regulators had received the filing and said they would examine
it.
With files from Citizen news services
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