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The parties are to conduct disclosure searches in accordance with the agreed or ordered searches.

ValueLicensing must allow Microsoft to audit the carrying out of a settlement arising from a software copyright infringement dispute, even as the software reseller is engaged in a dominance-abuse lawsuit against the US tech giant over anticompetitive licensing deals, a UK High Court judge ruled today. He said the case is a contractual matter on its own terms, even as the parties are involved in proceedings over damages litigation.

Software reseller ValueLicensing has likened Microsoft’s second attempt to split a €270 million standalone damages claim into separate trials to “Groundhog Day”.

During a Case Management Conference held by the Competition Appeal Tribunal yesterday, both sides gave an account of issues that need to be resolved before the case could go to trial.

The ValueLicensing v Microsoft case has all the hallmarks of an antitrust David and Goliath battle. In one corner we have ValueLicensing, a plucky Derby-based firm with current annual revenues of £1.5 million and in the other, Microsoft with revenues of $207 billion.