Samsung now subject to EU investigation over FRAND-pledged patents

Apple has gained time in its battle against Samsung, as the European Commission has just announced that it has “opened a formal investigation to assess whether Samsung Electronics has abusively and in contravention of a commitment it gave to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), used certain of its standard essential patent rights to distort competition in European mobile markets in breach of EU antitrust rules.”

The announcement is an important step against Samsung, as the full-blown investigation statement that came out today came after preliminary investigations, when information was gathered from both sides, Apple and Samsung.

The preliminary investigation involves questionnaires sent to Apple (who may have informally complained) and Samsung. Now, the examination of the case is “a matter of priority”, the Commission announced today.

According to the EU Commission announcement, the investigation will focus on FRAND patents. FRAND stands for “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory”, and the Commission will investigate whether the South Korean company “used certain of its standard essential patent rights to distort competition in European mobile device markets, in breach of EU antitrust rules.

According to Foss Patents, Samsung promised to let rivals license its mobile patents under FRAND terms.

Now, the investigation will take into account the lawsuits Samsung filed against Apple in various courts across Europe (Germany, France, the Netherlands) and other countries across the globe, where the South Korean company alleged copyright infringement related to patents essential to wireless telecommunication standards.

As we previously reported, Samsung filed five lawsuits against Apple in the Mannheim court, claiming the Cupertino company infringes its mobile technology patents.

The Mannheim court, however, dropped Samsung’s claims over 3G-related patents, which makes the other five patent infringement claims questionable.

Samsung is innocent, of course, until proven guilty of abuse, but the investigation might have other significant consequences for the (soon-to-be) Google company, Motorola Mobility. Motorola has won an injunction against Apple in Germany, although it has not yet sought to enforce it, so both Motorola Mobility and Google are watching closely what the EU Commission investigation will find.