Apple and Google Bury the Hatchet

Apple and Google settled all smartphone patent litigation between last week, dismissing their cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Interestingly, the settlement does not include a typical cross license of respective patents. Steve Jobs once called Android a "stolen product." Apple was unable to slow Android's growth to the majority of new mobile phones sold. In 2010, Motorola preemptively accused Apple of infringing several patents, including one essential to how cellphones operate on a 3G network, while Apple said Motorola violated its patents to certain smartphone features in 2011. U.S. District Judge Richard Posner dismissed that case in 2012 shortly before trial, saying neither company had sufficient evidence to prove its case. Last month, the appeals court gave Apple another chance to win a sales ban against Motorola. Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012 and recently agreed to sell its handset business to Lenovo, while keeping the vast majority of the patents. Google may have been encouraged to settle with Apple after regulators in the U.S. and Europe criticized the company for the legal strategy it employed with Motorola's patents. Motorola had pursued injunctions against Apple products based on patents that regulators said it was required to license to Apple. Apple's incentive to keep fighting the Motorola suit may have been diminished by the pending sale to Lenovo. See stories here-- http://on.wsj.com/1pbg90S and http://reut.rs/1p0pjgL and cases 2012-1528 & 2012-1549 at http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov

Google Settles EU Antitrust Case

A settlement with European antitrust authorities on a competition case regarding Google’s alleged abuse of search and advertising practices has been announced. Google can now avoid hefty fines as well as any finding of wrongdoing. Google, which has some ninety percent of the European market, was accused of favoring its own products and services in search results. Reportedly, the deal is a culmination of four years of negotiations between Google and the European Union (EU). The settlement remains tentative, as comment from Google’s rivals is sought before making the antitrust decision legally binding later this year. Per the settlement, Google will give greater prominence to competitors for the next five years, including displaying results from three competitors every time Google shows its own results for searches related to products, restaurants and hotels. The settlement also makes it easier for advertisers to move their business to Yahoo or Microsoft. The EU agreement goes further than last year's agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission, which forced only minor concessions. European competitors are now considering whether to appeal to the European Court of Justice on the antitrust agreement. Significantly, the settlement does not require the company to change the algorithm that producing search results, nor does it include expanded web services like cloud data, mapping, email, and e-commerce, that apparently gave the company the dominant position in European internet use. See full story here-- http://nyti.ms/MsYl3k