Samsung and Microsoft end royalty payments dispute
Microsoft and Samsung's very public tiff over patent royalty late fee payments has come to a private end, with both companies making a brief announcement today about a new agreement between them. Says both companies, "Samsung and Microsoft are pleased to announce that they have ended their contract dispute in U.S. court as well as the ICC arbitration." They go on to says that the terms under which this agreement was struck are confidential, and leave the rest of the details in the dark.
Back in 2011, Samsung and Microsoft struck a patent licensing deal under which the Korean company would pay out royalties based on its Android mobile devices sales. All went well with this until August of last year.
In 2014, Microsoft threatened to sue Samsung over unpaid late fees on royalties, something that Samsung said it did not owe the company while threatening to stop payments. The reason revolved around Microsoft's Nokia acquisition, which Samsung said made their agreement invalid.
From Samsung's point of view, Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia positioned them as a hardware competitor. Said the Korean company, "The agreements, now between competitors, invite charges of collusion." The issue has been rolling onward since, finally coming to an end with new terms the likes of which neither company has revealed.