The European Union has approved Google’ $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. European Union has said it will watch closely the deal and its outcome for potential patent abuse. Search engine giants Google wants to purchase Motorola Mobility to boost its patent portfolio in a deal announced last August. EU’s antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia revealed that he was worried about the possibility of abuse of patents by Google. Reports claims that U.S. Justice Dept is expected to approve the acquisition this week.
“We have approved the acquisition… because upon careful examination, this transaction does not itself raise competition issues,” EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.
“This merger decision should not and will not mean that we are not concerned by the possibility that, once Google is the owner of this portfolio, Google can abuse these patents, linking some patents with its Android devices. This is our worry,” he told reporters.”We might be obliged to open some cases in the future. This is not enough to block the merger but we will be vigilant,” he said.
