ie8 fix

London Calling

Zack Whittaker
Home / News & Blogs / London Calling

European antitrust regulators: Global patent battle could be ‘used as tool for abuse’

By | November 22, 2011, 8:18am PST

Summary: Europe’s antitrust chief warns that the global dispute between technology companies over mobile phone patents could be “used as a tool of abuse”

European regulators investigating both Apple and Samsung over their ongoing patent dispute are worried that intellectual property rights could be used as weaponry by companies, in order to subdue their rivals or limit innovation, Europe’s antitrust chief said today.

The European Commission earlier this month asked both Apple and Samsung for additional details on the disputed patents, used as standards in the cellular industry.

Both companies are locked in a bitter patent battle which began in April, that has since spread to over 10 countries.

Speaking to reporters, Europe’s Competition Commissioner said: “We requested information from both Apple and Samsung. We have not yet received the answers. We need to look at this because intellectual property rights can be used as a distortion of competition but we will need to look at the answers”.

“In the IT sector, it is obvious it is not the only case. Apple and Samsung is only one case where intellectual property  rights can be used as an instrument to restrict competition”, he said, adding that both standardisation and intellectual property rights are two instruments that can be “used as a tool of abuse”.

It is thought that companies could gain advantage over others, particularly direct rivals or competitors, if sales bans are granted in courts, previously seen in Germany and Australia where Apple secured injunctions against the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab products.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is thought to be the greatest competitor to Apple’s iPad. The tablet recently underwent a design face-lift in a bid to appease Apple’s lawyers, after Samsung’s tablet was blocked for sale in October. A U.S. district judge said only last month that Apple’s patents were infringed upon by Samsung, after Samsung’s lawyers struggled to determine which tablets were which, when held up by the judge.

But Apple has not been completely on the winning-stick of the patent war, after a regional court in Germany temporarily banned U.S. based Apple Inc. from marketing or supplying its iPhone or iPad in the country, following a suit brought by Motorola.

If European antitrust rules are broken, companies can be fined up to 10 percent of their global turnover, which could end up in tens of millions of Euros, the region’s single currency.

Related:

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

More from “London Calling”

Topics

Samsung, Apple, Patent, Regulator, Smart Phone, Intellectual Property, Regulations, Smart Phones, Cellular Phones, Handhelds, Research & Development, Business Operations, Government, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Hardware, Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, a criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, Canterbury, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

Disclosure

Zack Whittaker

I worked briefly with Microsoft UK in 2006 but no longer have any connection with the company. Regardless, I remain impartial and unbiased in my views.

I don't hold any stock or shares, investments or industrial secrets in any company, but have signed confidentiality agreements with a number of UK and U.S. organisations, whose names I am not at liberty to disclose.

I was involved with Kent Union, the University of Kent's student union, undertaking voluntary, non-salaried, elected positions between early 2009 and mid-2010.

No other company, body, government department, non-governmental organisation or third sector organisation employs me or pays me a salary in any capacity whatsoever.

As a freelance journalist, whenever expenses are given and taken by a company that is not CBS Interactive, these will be disclosed in each relevant post to ensure transparency.

I currently work with a UK law enforcement unit. Details of which are restricted, but this is an entirely separate position which bears no connection to other work.

(Updated: 23rd October 2011)

Biography

Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, UK, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

After studying criminology at university, though still in his early-20's, he has already had a series unconventional work and voluntary positions. He has worked with researchers studying neurological illnesses like Tourette's syndrome (which he suffers from), has given lectures on the nature of disabilities in the public community, and occasionally ends up speaking on television and radio discussing the events of the day.

He first had academic work published at the age of 22, then still an undergraduate, and has been cited by a wide range of publications: from the Huffington Post, Business Insider, AllThingsDigital, The Atlantic Wire and CBS News.

7
Comments
Add Your Opinion

Join the conversation!

Just In

RE: European antitrust regulators: Global patent battle could be 'used as tool for abuse'
WinTard 24th Nov
@anono
Ok, so you have no idea about the situation between Apple and Samsung and the EU investigation (which is what the topic of the article is about and somebody else was hi-jacking this thread by throwing an unrelated spin on Microsoft and B&N).

As for Apple and Samsung. Don't forget who drew first blood. For the obtuse, it is Apple who started all this legal mess by suing Samsung first and it is Apple who is acting as a patent troll, attempting to prevent competition through litigation...

A monopoly isn't illegal. Anti-competitive behavior is.

~~~~~~~~~~
If you can't compete, litigate!
{Marketing 101}

The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.
{Chinese Proverb}
View in thread
0 Votes
+ -
RE: European antitrust regulators: Global patent battle could be 'used as tool for abuse'
Alan Smithie 22nd Nov
Are you watching Microsoft, I sure do hope B&N give you a good spanking.
0 Votes
+ -
Apple and Samsung have more to worry about with this
toddybottom 22nd Nov
@Alan Smithie
MS isn't under investigation for being a patent troll. Both Apple and Samsung are. So Apple and Samsung have far more to be worried about. And Apple is the only major company in a long time to actually get products banned and to actually bankrupt competitors with their patent attacks.

In fact, it would be interesting to see who has benefited (and been hurt) by patents. There is no doubt that Apple is reaping the benefits of patent trolling but MS has probably paid out far more patent related money than they have ever collected. Adding oversight to the patent troll situation would actually hurt Apple and help MS a lot.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: European antitrust regulators: Global patent battle could be 'used as tool for abuse'
anono Updated - 22nd Nov
@toddybottom
Ok, so you have no idea about the situation between B&N and Microsoft (which is what the OP was commenting on and what you replied to).

As for Apple and Samsung. I would think it's beneficial for both companies if regulators stepped in to stop them from getting each others products banned. Apple probably violates some of Samsung's patents and vice-versa; given our current patent system, it's almost impossible to be otherwise. If they continue on their current path, I would imagine both sides would be banned from some markets.

As for MS, they paid for intentionally infringing on the IP of other smaller companies as was proven in court. No matter how laws change, I would hope that kind of behavior will still not be allowed. If they want to make money from their products, then they should come up with their own technology. What should be changed is bullying tactics used to get people to pay for patents that have 43 pages of prior arts.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: European antitrust regulators: Global patent battle could be 'used as tool for abuse'
WinTard 24th Nov
@anono
Ok, so you have no idea about the situation between Apple and Samsung and the EU investigation (which is what the topic of the article is about and somebody else was hi-jacking this thread by throwing an unrelated spin on Microsoft and B&N).

As for Apple and Samsung. Don't forget who drew first blood. For the obtuse, it is Apple who started all this legal mess by suing Samsung first and it is Apple who is acting as a patent troll, attempting to prevent competition through litigation...

A monopoly isn't illegal. Anti-competitive behavior is.

~~~~~~~~~~
If you can't compete, litigate!
{Marketing 101}

The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.
{Chinese Proverb}
0 Votes
+ -
A Patent Is A Monopoly.
ldo17 22nd Nov
Monopolies are, by definition, anti-competitive. Since a patent is a monopoly, this means patents are anti-competitive, simple as that. They are a hangover from the (pre-capitalist) mercantilist-protectionist era, when it was thought that competition was bad for business. They have no place in a modern, competitive free market.
0 Votes
+ -
There are still a lot of people...
John L. Ries Updated - 23rd Nov
@ldo17
...who believe that competition is bad for business. The attitude is not incompatible with capitalism, as long it's consumers competing for goods and workers competing for jobs; not entrepreneurs competing for employees and customers.

Edit:

Let's rephrase that, shall we? Competition is a necessary element of a free market, but it is not a necessary element of capitalism. The late John D. Rockefeller (the world's first billionaire) even advocated a "cooperative capitalism" on the theory that economic competition was bad for everyone. In practice, I think most people think that economic competition is good for "other people" (not themselves) and corporate executives are not an exception.
0 Votes
+ -
Competition isn't essential for Capitalism, it is for a working version
Richard Flude 23rd Nov
Capitalism simply requires private ownership of economic inputs. Competition is what benefits consumers in a capitalist economy.

The patent system (much like the stealing by governments) is designed is anti-competitive, designed by rent seeking corporations. Companies should use every legal tool to maximise returns for shareholders, but as the Commission is flagging it is not in the interest of consumers.

Adam Smith's invisible hand works best with a competitive marketplace for buyers and sellers.

OT: It's wonder classical economics theories are returning to prominence as ridiculous Keynesian aggregate demand continues to fail in big government response to economic challenges.

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

Blog Roll

Blog Archive

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix