The US FTC has opened a formal probe into whether Motorola Mobility is honoring pledges to license industry-standard technology for mobile devices on fair terms, three people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg. The FTC issued a civil investigative demand, similar to a subpoena, to Motorola's owner Google, one of the people said. The agency is also seeking information from companies including Microsoft and Apple as it investigates whether Google intends to license technology under patents that help operate 3G, Wi-Fi and video streaming on fair and reasonable terms, another one of the people said. Another focus of the FTC probe, the source said, is Google's decision to continue litigation started by Motorola Mobility over industry-standard patents before Google bought the company. Those lawsuits could end up blocking imports of popular consumer products such as Microsoft's Xbox and Apple's iPhone and iPad. The FTC investigation follows the opening of formal probes of Motorola and Samsung for the same issues by the European Commission earlier this year. US antitrust regulators have agreed the FTC will focus on Motorola Mobility and the Justice Department will scrutinize Samsung's handling of industry-standard patent claims, the report said.
