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FTC bemoans Google's pleas for US iPad ban

The FTC has told the ITC that any consumer electronic bans in the US would hurt overall competition

Apple iPad
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Google's attempts to block iOS and Xbox hardware imports in the US could cause major harm to US sales competition, according to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC has asked the International Trade Commission (ITC) to quell talk of technology bans for the sake of competition.

The FTC's statement argues that Google's requests to ban iPod and Xbox imports in the US on the grounds of copyright infringement would lead to a lull in corporate competition. It asked the ITC to consider other means of copyright infringement punishment.

"Today's FTC statement filed in the ITC adds to the growing chorus of regulators and other government officials around the world who agree that injunctions and exclusion orders based on standard essential patents jeopardise competition and the availability and price of consumer technology," said Microsoft corporate vice president David Howard in a recent blog posting.

Google's requests for product bans started last year following accusations of copyright infringement on recently-acquired Motorola Mobility patents.

The FTC recommendation is in line with similar statements filed by German and Chinese governments from earlier this year. The United States Department of Justice warned of the potential for patent wars during the purchase of Motorola by Google last February.

"In light of the importance of this industry to consumers and the complex issues raised by the intersection of the intellectual property rights and anti-trust law at issue here, as well as uncertainty as to the exercise of the acquired rights, the division continues to monitor the use of standard essential patents (SEPs) in the wireless device industry, particularly in the smartphone and computer tablet markets," said the Department of Justice last February.

"The division will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action to stop any anti-competitive use of SEP rights."

The current and constant patent litigation facing the technology sector has started to make many question the validity of the current US copyright system.

Billionaire technology investor Mark Cuban called the US patent system "broken" last March and suggested that things will only change when a major vendor is crippled by a patent decision.

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