­Google is reported to be mulling a settlement with US authorities over how it manages its mobile patent portfolio following allegations that it withheld licenses from competitors.

Citing a person familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal wrote that the USA's Federal Trade Commission has been investigating how the company handled patent licensing requests following its acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

The licensing disputes themselves stem from before Google's acquisition, but the company is deemed to be partially culpable as it did not move swiftly to resolve the disputes.

The FTC is understood to have threatened to bring a lawsuit against Google under Section 5 of the FTC Act -- which covers unfair or deceptive business practices -- for refusing the patent licenses.

The FTC is said to have evidence that Google insiders considered the actions by Motorola Mobility to be wrong, but did nothing to stop them.

Motorola Mobility has come under pressure over the past couple of years over allegations that it failed to uphold principles of fair and non-discriminatory licensing for standards-essential patents that it holds.

The European Commission is also looking into both Mororola Mobility and Samsung for breaches of the FRAND princple in a separate investigation.