14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against Samsung, complaining that the company violated its contract over Android patent royalties and no longer paid its fees since September 2013, when the Nokia Devices and Services takeover was announced.
Microsoft says that this legal action “is simply to enforce our contract with Samsung,” and does not involve any other complaints regarding its products or business.
The company explains in a press release that it already contacted Samsung to resolve the issue, but after months of negotiations, “Samsung has made clear in a series of letters and discussions that we have a fundamental disagreement as to the meaning of our contract.”
What’s more, Microsoft also says that its own patent royalties helped Samsung sell millions of smartphones, so its sales have quadrupled since the agreement was signed in 2011. More than 82 million Android smartphones were sold before reaching an agreement with Microsoft on Android patents, while three years later, the company reached a record 314 million sold Android smartphones.
“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.
“In September 2013, after Microsoft announced it was acquiring the Nokia Devices and Services business, Samsung began using the acquisition as an excuse to breach its contract. Curiously, Samsung did not ask the court to decide whether the Nokia acquisition invalidated its contract with Microsoft, likely because it knew its position was meritless.”
Of course, even though Microsoft has decided to move this lawsuit to court, the company is really sure that the judge will order in its favor and the contract will in the end be honored.
“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.
Microsoft is making billions every year with its Android patents, with several large companies signing deals with the Redmond-based technology giant to use its technologies in a number of products, including smartphones, tablets, and phone cameras. The biggest names include Samsung, LG, Nikon, Panasonic, and others.
As it usually happens with such legal disputes, it would most likely take a while until the judge makes a decision, and both companies are very likely to appeal the ruling no matter the outcome.