Microsoft is suing Samsung for unpaid royalties. Under the terms of their current agreement, the South Korean electronics maker is obligated to pay Microsoft for each Android smartphone it sells.
Microsoft alleges that Samsung defaulted on payment last fall, and is resisting to pay up any surcharges. The payment is part of a patent-sharing accord, which the two companies negotiated in 2011.
On his blog, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel David Howard stated they have spent months attempting to resolve the issue though Samsung has made it clear in a series of discussions and letters that the implications of the contract is the absolute bone of contention.
Samsung and Microsoft agreed in September 2011 to permit access to each other’s patents. They however never issued the terms of the deal and Microsoft’s complaint edited all the dollar figures. Rick Sherlund, Nomura Securities’ telecom analyst, approximated that Microsoft makes $2 billion per year on patent royalties related to devices that run on Google’s Android operating system designed by Samsung and other companies.
So far, Samsung has not responded to the claims.
