Google won US antitrust approval to purchase Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion and expand its mobile phone patents to increase competition with Apple.

The acquisition of Libertyville, Illinois based Motorola Mobility gives Google, the biggest maker of smartphone software, more than 17,000 additional patents in the largest wireless-equipment deal in at least a decade.

The US Justice Department said that the Motorola Mobility patent purchases as well as two separate deals it approved on Monday wouldn't hurt competition in the mobile phone industry. Google earlier won approval for the purchase in the European Union while the company is awaiting regulatory clearance in China and Israel.

Source :timesofindia.indiatimes.com