New Aspect to Patent Dispute
The patent dispute between Samsung Electronics and Microsoft has expanded to international arbitration.
According to industry sources on Oct. 8, Samsung and Microsoft filed a request for arbitration with the Hong Kong office of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
A Samsung associate said, “Previously, both companies decided to resolve any dispute related to royalties in Tokyo, Japan using arbitration according to ICC proceedings.”
After signing an agreement with the Redmond-based software company for intellectual property in 2011, the Korean tech giant paid patent fees for Android phones and tablet PCs. However, when Microsoft bought Nokia last year, Samsung stopped paying patent royalties, citing that the software firm violated their contract.
After that, the Korean company paid patent fees, but did not pay interest on late payments. Thus, Microsoft filed a patent lawsuit against Samsung. The total amount of royalties paid last year is around US$1 billion (1.6 trillion won).
In its lawsuit, Microsoft said, “Interest that incurred while Samsung did not pay patent fees reached US$6.9 million,” urging the Korean firm to pay the fees. The U.S. company also brought the case to the court to decide whether or not Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia's handset business violated its contract with Samsung.