Despite Microsoft owning the Windows Phone platform, Microsoft is actually being paid royalties by other Android OEMs for use of their patents in their Android devices. Samsung is/was one of those companies that paid Microsoft, although a dispute last year saw Samsung refusing to pay what was owed to Microsoft.
Samsung at that time believed that with Microsoft officially acquiring Nokia that their contract with Microsoft had been invalidated, although Microsoft thought otherwise and both companies have been in the courts ever since, at least until now. Both Microsoft and Samsung have recently released statements in which they claimed that the Android royalties dispute is now over.
According to the statement, “Samsung and Microsoft are pleased to announce that they have ended their contract dispute in U.S. court as well as the ICC arbitration.” Unsurprisingly the terms of their settlement was not revealed in their statements so we can’t be sure what exactly both companies have agreed upon.
“Terms of the agreement are confidential,” according to the lawyers of both companies. Either way it looks like for now, Samsung’s arrangement with Microsoft will continue, but whether or not Microsoft has reduced their rates for Samsung, or if Samsung finally agreed to keep paying Microsoft at the current rate remains unknown.