14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft decided last month to start a legal action against Samsung for not paying its patent royalties, but a new report reveals that the two companies are very close to reaching a settlement.
Korea Times is reporting via an industry official that Microsoft and Samsung need each other for a number of projects and a settlement should be announced very soon.
It appears that an amicable end of the lawsuit is very likely because Microsoft wants Samsung to install its Windows Phone operating system on devices, while the South Korean company hopes to benefit from Redmond’s solutions for cloud computing.
“The key point is that Microsoft wants to settle the lawsuit and it's no surprise to see that the two technology giants have resumed ‘working-level' discussions on how to dismiss lawsuits filed by Microsoft to a New York court,” the source was quoted as saying.
“Samsung earlier promised to team up with Microsoft to promote Windows platforms and Windows-embedded mobile devices. If the two settles the lawsuit, then Samsung may show more attention for the development of Windows-powered devices.”
Microsoft decided last month to file a lawsuit against Samsung for not paying full royalties since September 2013 when the company officially announced the takeover of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit.
Redmond, which is making billions of dollars every year from Android patents that it sells to lots of companies building smartphones, tablets, cameras, and other devices, explained that it actually tried to discuss with Samsung and resolve the dispute amicably, but the South Korean manufacturer clearly explained that there was a “fundamental disagreement as to the meaning of our contract.”
“After becoming the leading player in the worldwide smartphone market, Samsung decided late last year to stop complying with its agreement with Microsoft,” the software giant said in a statement.
“Microsoft and Samsung have a long history of collaboration. Microsoft values and respects our partnership with Samsung and expects it to continue. We are simply asking the Court to settle our disagreement, and we are confident the contract will be enforced,” the company explained.
Even though it was very sure that it could win the lawsuit, Microsoft is very likely to accept a settlement, mostly because Samsung is already one of the leading companies in the smartphone industry, so installing Windows Phone on the devices it builds is a priority.
Of course, it remains to be seen if such an agreement is reached, but an announcement is expected sometime in the coming weeks.