The United States Department of Justice (USDoJ) has approved Google's takeover of Motorola Mobility but made it clear that patent abuse would not be tolerated.
The news comes just hours after the European Union approved the buyout, also stating that it would be closely monitoring patent activities to ensure fairness in the market.
Google still need approval from Taiwan and Israel before the takeover can happen, but with the EU and US now on board the end is very much in sight.
Let's talk patents
As with the EU, the USDoJ has clearly stated that it will be keeping an eye on companies in the wireless device industry regarding patent acquisition and use.
Companies have been warned that the USDoJ "will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action to stop any anticompetitive use of SEP (standard essential patents) rights".
What this means in short is companies will not be allowed to force others out of business with anticompetitive patent usage.
The USDoJ went on to say that Apple and Microsoft have made "clear commitments… to license SEPs on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, as well as their commitments not to seek injunctions in disputes involving SEPs".
Google has not been quite so black and white with accepting the terms, so expect a beady eye to stay focussed on it for the time being.
From SlashGear
