Google antitrust decision delayed until next year

WASHINGTON: The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s final decision on how to resolve its 20-month antitrust investigation of Google will be delayed until next year, said two people familiar with the situation who asked not to be named because the talks aren’t public.

The agency had been expected to announce the outcome of its probe this week, two other people familiar with the agency’s thinking had said.

Google had been preparing a letter with voluntary concessions to end the agency’s investigation of its practices in the Internet search market without a formal settlement or lawsuit, the people have said. The agency was also preparing to file a consent decree on patents curbing Google’s ability to seek court orders barring competitors’ products where the company has agreed to licence the technology on reasonable terms.

A majority vote of the agency’s five commissioners is required both to resolve the investigation into Internet search and to accept a consent decree on standard-essential patents.