Week 12, Post 1 — EU backs Apple over Google-Motorola patent move

The European Union made a preliminary antitrust finding against Google's mobile communications unit, Motorola Mobility, for seeking and enforcing an injunction against Apple in Germany over patents essential to smartphones and tablets.

The European Union had reached a "preliminary view" on a competition investigation opened in April 2012. It's decided that Motorola Mobility's actions amount to an abuse of a dominant position prohibited by EU anti-trust rules.

The finding is in direct relation to the commission trying to ensure that companies do not use their patent portfolios to block or harm others from using the technologies vital to developing some of the most popular consumer electronics.

As EU competition Commissioner Joaquin Alumnia said, "The protection of intellectual property is a cornerstone of innovation and growth. But so is competition. I think that companies should spend their time innovating and competing on the merits of the products they offer -- not misusing their intellectual property rights to hold up competitors to the detriment of innovation and consumer choice."

This comes at a time when the integrity of patent wars are being questioned again and again. Are companies using patents to arm themselves against competitors, or are they using patents to harm their competitors. This is a very thin line that companies keep crossing, and a line that needs to be established.