Google has won China’s approval for its $12.5bn purchase of Motorola – the last hurdle it faced to close the acquisition.
US and European regulators approved the deal in February, leaving only the Chinese regulators as potential spoilers.
A main condition of the deal is that the Android system remain free and open for five years, said a source who is familiar with the Chinese approval but not authorised to discuss it.
“We are pleased that the deal has received approval in all jurisdictions and we expect to close early next week,” Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch-Erickson said.
Motorola phones blocked from US
The approval comes following less positive news from the US, where a trade panel has ruled that some Motorola smartphones infringe on a Microsoft patent and will be barred from being imported to the United States.
The order by the US International Trade Commission has been sent to President Barack Obama, who has 60 days to consider whether to overturn it for policy reasons.
Last week, some of HTC’s smartphone models were stopped at the US border because it lost a patent dispute with Apple at the ITC in December.
We hope that now Motorola will be willing to join the vast majority of Android device makers selling phones in the US by taking a license to our patents
The ITC order did not say which models of Motorola smartphone were affected but Microsoft has asked for the following devices to be stopped at the US border: the Atrix, Backflip, Bravo, Charm, Cliq, Cliq 2, Cliq XT, Defy, Devour, Droid 2, Droid 2 Global, Droid Pro, Droid X, Droid X2, Flipout, Flipside, Spice and the Xoom tablet.
The patented technology at issue makes it possible for users to generate meeting requests and schedule gatherings using their mobile devices.
One option for Motorola will be to remove the meeting-scheduling technology from its smartphones and tablets. The company could also license it from Microsoft.
“Although we are disappointed by the commission’s ruling that certain Motorola Mobility products violated one patent, we look forward to reading the full opinion to understand its reasoning,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We will explore all options including appeal.”
Both sides can appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Microsoft said it was pleased with the decision. “We hope that now Motorola will be willing to join the vast majority of Android device makers selling phones in the US by taking a license to our patents,” a company spokeswoman said via email.
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