As we’re sure some of you guys have heard, Samsung and Microsoft are in a bit of a legal dispute right now. Earlier this year Microsoft had filed a lawsuit against Samsung, claiming that the company had owed them more than $1 billion in patent royalties along with $6.9 million in interest due to the delayed payments.
The patents in question pertain to the manufacturing of Android devices, which Samsung and other Android OEMs pay Microsoft a certain fee in order to license said patents. However Samsung claims that Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia violated the deal that they had with Microsoft back in 2011, and in the latest development, it seems that Samsung now considers Microsoft a direct competitor.
In fact in the recent filing by Samsung, the South Korean tech giant suggested that this was a form of collusion. “The agreements, now between competitors, invite charges of collusion,” to the extent that Samsung refuses to fulfil its end of the deal. One of the deals Samsung made with Microsoft was that they would share confidential business information with Microsoft and develop Windows Phone, and in turn Microsoft would also reduce the royalty payments if certain sales goals were met.
Since Microsoft now owns Nokia and could soon be making their own Windows Phone devices, Samsung feels that this could pose a problem for the future, especially with confidential information having been shared. That being said, Microsoft is confident that their case is strong and that their lawsuit will succeed with Samsung being compelled to pay them what is due.
Filed in . Read more about Legal, Microsoft, Samsung and Windows Phone.