Google Is Said to Assure Fair Licensing for Motorola Patents

Google, the largest maker of smartphone software, plans to send a letter to standards organizations reassuring them it will license Motorola Mobility Holdings patents on a fair and reasonable basis, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The letter, to be signed by a senior Google lawyer, is likely to be sent within the next 24 hours, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the decision isn’t yet public. The move would come after a deadline passed for Google to submit remedies to the European Commission, which is evaluating the plan to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. Google, which has drawn scrutiny over the acquisition of Motorola Mobility’s patents, plans to send the letter to several standards organizations, the people said. The groups would include the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, a nonprofit recognized by the European Union. Sending the letter is a “good step” for Google, said Maulin Shah, managing director of patent research firm Envision IP.