Frand Micosoft

Microsoft has filed a formal competition complaint with the European Commission against Motorola - and by extension Google - claiming FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) abuse.

Motorola is notoriously aggressive when it comes to enforcing patent rights against rivals; however, Microsoft is arguing the company does not offer essential patents on fair and bad credit loans reasonable terms, ultimately breaking competition rules.

The filing deals specifically with patents that Motorola holds for Web video and the way it's accessed and played on devices like Windows PCs and the Xbox.

"In legal proceedings on both sides of the Atlantic, unsecured loans Motorola is demanding that Microsoft take its products off the market, or else remove their standards-based ability to play video and connect wirelessly," Microsoft's vice president and deputy general counsel Dave Heiner wrote in an official blog post.

"The only basis for these actions is that these products implement industry standards, on which Motorola claims patents. Yet when the industry adopted these standards, we all were counting on Motorola and every contributor to live up to their promises."

Microsoft has said it's willing to pay a fair price for the use of other's intellectual property, but claims Motorola isn't being quite so reasonable in its terms.

"For a $1,000 (£640) laptop, Motorola is demanding that Microsoft pay a royalty of $22.50 (£14) for its 50 patents on the video standard, called H.264.

"As it turns out, there are at least 2,300 other patents needed to implement this standard. They are available from a group of 29 companies that came together to offer their H.264 patents to the industry on FRAND terms.

"Microsoft's patent royalty to this group on that $1,000 laptop? Two cents (1p)."

These aren't the first FRAND problems for Motorola. Earlier this month, the company won an injunction against Apple, requiring them to pull iPad and iPhones in Germany.

However, Apple quickly appealed and won a temporary suspension of the injunction on claims that the Motorola patent is essential to industry and should be licensed under a FRAND basis.