The European Commission ruled on Monday that Motorola Mobility was abusing its market position when seeking and enforcing an injunction (a prohibition to sell a product) against Apple in Germany.

The Commission said in a statement that it had informed Motorola Mobility of its "preliminary view" that the company's conduct on the basis of its mobile phone standard-essential patents (SEPs) "amounts to an abuse of a dominant position prohibited by EU antitrust rules."

While recourse to injunctions is a possible remedy for patent infringements, such conduct may be abusive where SEPs are concerned, said the Commission.

The conduct could also be abusive given that "the potential licensee is willing to enter into a licence on Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (so-called "FRAND") terms," said the statement.

In such a situation, "dominant SEPs holders should not have recourse to injunctions, which generally involve a prohibition to sell the product infringing the patent," otherwise licensing negotiations could be distorted and consumers could be possibly harmed, said the Commission.

European Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquin Almunia explained the Commission's preliminary decision in the statement.

"The protection of intellectual property is a cornerstone of innovation and growth. But so is competition," he said.

"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," he added. Endi

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