Microsoft and Samsung Settle Lawsuit Over Android Patent Royalties - The UpStream

Six months ago, Microsoft sued Samsung over missing royalty payments for Android patents Samsung was using. Samsung claimed that since Microsoft purchased Nokia, the company didn't have to pay anymore. Microsoft decided to sue, and because of that, the two parties have agreed to settle outside of the courtroom.

While the specifics of the deal were not disclosed, both companies posted very short statements on their respective websites. Samsung's EVP Jaewan Chi wrote,

Samsung and Microsoft are pleased to announce that they have ended their contract dispute in U.S. court as well as the ICC arbitration. Terms of the agreement are confidential.

Aside from the very brief statement, Microsoft officials would not comment or verify the terms of the settlement. The good news is that Samsung and Microsoft can continue their seven-plus-year contract, with Samsung paying over $1 billion in 2013 alone for the use of patents Microsoft owns.

This puts Samsung back in line with LG and HTC for complying with patent licensing agreements. Still disputing contractual obligations is Motorola, and that's been ongoing since 2010, with no imminent end in sight. Microsoft currently licenses its patents to almost two dozen different companies who manufacture Android, Chrome and Linux-based products.