Google-Motorola buyout wins OK

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FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2012 file photo, industry affiliates examine various apps on Motorola tablets during the 2012 International CES tradeshow, in Las Vegas. The EU's antitrust watchdog has approved Google's $12.5 billion takeover of cell phone maker Motorola. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)

Updated: March 15, 2012 8:08AM

Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of cellphone maker Motorola Mobility has won approvals from U.S. and European antitrust regulators, moving Google a major step closer to completing the biggest deal in its 13-year history.

The blessings mean Google Inc. just needs to clear a few more regulatory hurdles before it can take control of Libertyville-based Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and expand into manufacturing phones, tablet computers and possibly other consumer devices for the first time.

Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., is counting on Motorola Mobility’s more than 17,000 patents — a crucial weapon in an intellectual arms race with Apple, Microsoft and other rivals — to gain more control over the increasingly popular mobile devices.

The Justice Department ended a six-month review of the deal after concluding it won’t stifle competition in the mobile device market. European regulators reached the same conclusion.

In granting its approval, though, the European Union raised concerns about Motorola’s aggressive enforcement of its patents. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said regulators will “keep a close eye on the behavior of all market players in the sector, particularly the increasingly strategic use of patents.”

Google still needs government approvals in the China, Taiwan and Israel.

The main concerns are believed to revolve around Google’s Android operating system, free software that now powers more than 250 million mobile devices made by a variety of manufacturers, including Motorola Mobility. Competition could be hurt if Google gives Motorola Mobility the most advanced versions of Android or withholds the mobile software from other cellphone makers.

Google, though, has pledged to make Android available to all its mobile partners. Even if Google were to discriminate, cellphone makers still could rely on mobile software from Microsoft Corp., Research in Motion Ltd. and Hewlett-Packard Co., among others. AP