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The European Union delved deeper into the global smartphone patent wars, saying it will open two investigations into whether the way Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) licenses its intellectual property violates antitrust rules.

The investigations, which the bloc's antitrust regulator announced Tuesday, will asses whether Motorola abused some of its standard-essential patents to distort competition following complaints from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT).

The move marks the latest attempt by government regulators to wade into the patent battles that have pitted the world's largest technologies against one another in court rooms around the globe. The companies have fought over patents for features such as search, and technologies such as wireless communications in attempts to either stymie one another's success or take some share of their profits.

At issue, regulators said, is whether Motorola has used some of its patents to seek injunctions against Apple and Microsoft's flagship products, such as the iPhone and Xbox. Those patents, Motorola says, are considered essential for creating standards-based devices, such as smartphones that can connect to 3G wireless systems or devices that can play specific type of videos.

In addition, the commission said it will assess allegations from Apple and Microsoft that Motorola offered unfair licensing conditions for its standards-essential patents.

When patents are considered part of a standard, they are expected to be licensed under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, commonly referred to as Frand. A central argument of both Apple and Microsoft's cases with Motorola has been that its demands have not followed those rules.

Apple in particular has become a vocal critic of standards-based patents, sending a letter to a European standards body asking for an overhaul of Frand agreements and a framework for how those patents are licensed. In particular, Apple has argued that no companies should seek injunctions over standards-essential patents, a sentiment that has been mirrored by its peers, including Microsoft.

Microsoft also has said that Motorola's efforts to license its video technologies, which have become widely used across the Internet, could "kill" Web video.

Apple and Microsoft declined to comment further.

Motorola said it has kept its Frand commitments.

Motorola "is confident that a thorough investigation will demonstrate that it has honored its FRAND obligations and complied with antitrust laws," a company spokeswoman said. She added that the company "will continue to work closely with the European Commission to resolve this matter as soon as practicable."

This isn't the first time the EU has launched an investigation over patents. Last month, the European Commission said it would investigate Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNHY, 005930.SE) over similar concerns.

The commission's move comes after regulatory officials in the EU and the U.S. Justice Department approved Google Inc.'s (GOOG) $12.5 billion bid to buy Motorola Mobility. When the deal was first announced in August, Google said Motorola would leave the Mountain View, Calif., search giant with thousands of patents to use as protection in legal cases against smartphones made using its Android mobile operating system.

When approving the deal, European and U.S. regulators both said recent arguments over standards-essential patents had concerned them, saying they will monitor how Google and others use these patents in their ongoing legal battles.

Google is still awaiting an additional round of scrutiny by China's antitrust agency, which could delay approval of the deal.

"We haven't finalized our acquisition of Motorola Mobility, but will work with the European Commission to answer any questions they might have," a spokesman for Google said. "We have longstanding concerns about patent abuses, including lawsuits and royalty demands targeting the Android ecosystem."

The commission has been stepping up its surveillance of this area as the stakes have risen. Samsung has had to remove some models of its Galaxy tablet from the market in Germany after Apple said they infringed the patents of its iPad.

Last week, the EU's antitrust chief slammed the behavior of mobile companies. "Let me take the ongoing patent wars in the mobile-phone industry as an example," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a speech in Washington. "In some cases, the holders of standard-essential patents can effectively hold up the entire industry with the threat of banning the products of competitors from the market."

"I don't need to tell you that this is unacceptable," he added. "I am determined to use antitrust enforcement to prevent such hold-up by patent holders."

-By Ian Sherr and Frances Robinson, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6455; ian.sherr@dowjones.com

--Steven D. Jones contributed to this article.

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