Microsoft and Samsung settle US contract dispute

Microsoft in August last year filed legal action against Samsung in the Southern District of New York for not complying with an IP cross-licensing agreement. The two parties have reached an agreement on undisclosed terms.

“Samsung and Microsoft are pleased to announce that they have ended their contract dispute in US court as well as the ICC arbitration. Terms of the agreement are confidential,” Jaewan Chi, Samsung executive vice-president, and David Howard, Microsoft corporate vice-president and deputy general counsel, said in a joint statement.

In 2011, Samsung entered into a contract with Microsoft to cross-license IP.

Howard said in a blog post in August 2014: “After becoming the leading player in the worldwide smartphone market, Samsung decided late last year to stop complying with its agreement with Microsoft. 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.”