The Justice Department said that it believes Avanci's 5G connected car licensing platform passes antitrust muster.
Justice signaled its sign-off in a business review letter. Essentially Avanci sought the review from Justice, outlining what its platform does, which is essentially provide licensing for IP from many different patent holders into a single licensing transaction, in this case for car systems connected by 5G, and asking for DOJ's seal of approval, as it were.
Justice concluded that Avanci's bundling of standard-essential patents into one agreement could make licensing those patents "related to vehicle connectivity more efficient by providing automakers with a 'one stop shop' for licensing 5G technology."
"The Department has concluded that, on balance, and based on the representations in Avanci’s letter request, Avanci’s proposed 5G Platform is unlikely to harm competition," DOJ said. But it reserved the right to challenge the platform if, in actual operation, it is anticompetitive "in purpose or effect."
