European Commission Accuses Google Of Anti-Competitive Behavior


This article originally appeared on IP Flow at http://mimesislaw.com/category/ipflow 
The European Commission (EC) antitrust team and Google are continually at loggerheads. The latest: a formal antitrust complaint over Android and another separate complaint on prioritization of shopping search results. This investigation is the second major case between the two frenemies.  
What’s going on? The EC is claiming that Google has abused its dominant position by imposing restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile operators and by promoting its services and apps. To be in a dominant position in Europe is not in itself illegal, but the company has a special responsibility to ensure that its conduct does not distort competition (Article 102 TFEU).
What kind of business practices the EC is objecting to? As explained in the complaint, Google breaches EU antitrust rules by:
“Requiring manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Google’s Chrome browser and requiring them to set Google Search as default search service on their devices, as a condition to license certain Google proprietary apps.”
In other words, Google is forcing companies to install its Play Store and products (such as Google Maps, YouTube, Chrome, etc.). Indeed,...

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