Law360, London (December 5, 2023, 5:37 PM GMT) -- A software reseller can't block Microsoft from auditing its records, a London court ruled on Tuesday, rejecting the case that the tech giant would misuse the information to counter its looming £270 million ($341 million) antitrust claim.
Law360 - Microsoft Wins Fight To Audit Reseller Before Antitrust Battle
Law360, London (December 5, 2023, 5:37 PM GMT) -- A software reseller can't block Microsoft from auditing its records, a London court ruled on Tuesday, rejecting the case that the tech giant would misuse the information to counter its looming £270 million ($341 million) antitrust claim.
The High Court ordered ValueLicensing to reveal its records to Microsoft Corp. so the software giant could verify the reseller's compliance with a 2018 copyright dispute settlement.
Judge Neil Cadwallader rejected ValueLicensing's case that Microsoft was likely to abuse the audit to gather evidence for its defense against the reseller's ongoing antitrust claim. However, he also invited Microsoft to make an undertaking promising not to deploy the information in the upcoming case in the Competition Appeal Tribunal.