Microsoft is suing Samsung over millions in alleged unpaid interest

Android
Samsung pays Microsoft royalties thanks to Android

If there's one thing tech companies know how to do better than anyone else, it's sue one another.

Now Microsoft has taken Samsung to task in a New York court for $6.9 million (about £4.3m, AU$7.9m) in alleged unpaid interest, according to Reuters.

The disagreement reportedly began with Samsung's belief that Microsoft breached the companies' "business collaboration agreement" when Microsoft bought Nokia's phone division in September of 2013.

As a result Samsung delayed payments of over $1 billion (about £621m, AU$1.14b) of patent royalties to Microsoft in protest, and now Microsoft says Samsung owes it interest on those late payments.

Agree to disagree

Samsung did eventually resume its royalty payments, but without the interest Microsoft says it's owed.

The royalties Samsung pays Microsoft are due to Microsoft's ownership of technology that Android has been found to be partially based on.

Samsung is not the only company that pays royalties to Microsoft for this reason, but apparently HTC and others didn't skip their payments when Microsoft purchased Nokia's mobile business.

However Motorola is one company that has also refused to pay royalties to Microsoft, and the two have been locked in litigation for years.

Hopefully Samsung doesn't suffer the same fate, especially considering how it fared against Apple.

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.