The European Commission says Motorola Mobility may have abused its dominant market position to deny Apple the right to use technology essential for mobile phones.

It's a violation of EU antitrust rules for a patent-holder to deny use to technologically essential patents to companies willing to pay a fair and reasonable price. Motorola Mobility, now owned by Google, obtained an injunction preventing Apple from using certain patented technologies.

Joaquin Almunia, the European Union's competition commissioner, said: "The protection of intellectual property is a cornerstone of innovation and growth. But so is competition. I think that companies should spend their time innovating and competing on the merits of the products they offer, not misusing their intellectual property rights to hold up competitors."

The preliminary finding could lead to formal anti-trust charges.