Google’s proposed US$12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility is close to being approved by the US Justice Department, reports The Wall Street Journal. Sources said the green light could be given as early as next week on a deal that was first announced in August 2011.

The European Commission has set a deadline on whether it will approve the acquisition for next Monday. However, the publication said that antitrust regulators in the US and Europe remain concerned about Google’s plans for licensing Motorola patents to competitors on fair terms, and will continue to monitor the situation.

It was reported by Reuters yesterday that Google was set to send letters assuring regulators, including the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), that it will licence the Motorola patents in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) basis.

As well as the handset business, the acquisition of the Motorola Mobility will give Google access to more than 17,000 patents, which it is expected to use to help protect handset makers using its Android platform in legal and licensing disputes with the likes of Apple and Microsoft.

Technologies that have now become industry standards – such as those related to 3G technologies – are licensed under FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms. However, there have been reports of companies seeking injunctions barring product sales due to FRAND patent infringements.

The European Commission is currently investigating whether Samsung is guilty of actions that go against a commitment given to the ETSI in 1998 to licence standard-essential patent rights on FRAND terms. Samsung last year took action against competitors in Europe alleging infringements of patent rights deemed essential for implementing mobile telephony standards.

Some companies have suggested it may be valuable to create frameworks for how FRAND patents should be licensed and litigated.