Samsung seeks court declaration for its right to terminate patent-licensing agreement with Microsoft

Microsoft had announced through a blog post back in August that it was filing a legal complaint against Samsung because the Korean giant had allegedly violated a patent-licensing agreement between the two companies that was signed back in 2011. Microsoft alleges that Samsung not only refused to pay loyalties but also did not pay interest on late payments that are outstanding since September 2013.

While there were reports a few weeks back that both companies had begun talks to amicably settle the dispute, that doesn’t mean that the legal proceedings have come to a standstill.

Yesterday Samsung made a new filing in this case which has been put up at the Southern District of New York. Microsoft recently submitted an amended complaint which wants the court to declare that regardless of the acquisition of Nokia’s devices and services business Samsung does not have the right to unilaterally kill the patent-licensing agreement.

Samsung has filed its counterclaim which seeks a declaration from the court regarding its right to terminate the patent-licensing agreement. An important distinction has to be made here, Samsung isn’t unilaterally killing the agreement, but it would like a declaration that clarifies its right and option to do so.

If that declaration is granted then Samsung would have some leverage in the matter, and perhaps it would be able to use that leverage against Microsoft to renegotiate the terms of this agreement.

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