Google filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission against Microsoft and Nokia, saying the companies are using patents to thwart competition. The complaint focuses on a transfer Nokia and Microsoft made last year of some 2,000 patents and patent applications to Mosaid Technologies Inc, Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Google, told Bloomberg. The patents relate to industry standards for wireless technology, and Microsoft has publicly pledged it wouldn't use such patents to block competitors from the market. Google said the two companies "are colluding to raise the costs of mobile devices for consumers, creating patent trolls that side-step promises both companies have made". Google's complaint could prompt an investigation by the same EC department probing Motorola Mobility's use of standard-essential patents in litigation against Microsoft and Apple. The EU investigation was prompted by complaints by those two companies.
