An English court has confirmed Microsoft’s contractual right to audit software reseller ValueLicensing but imposed undertakings on the tech giant preventing it from using the information to defend against a €270 million standalone damages claim.
GCR - Microsoft can audit antitrust claimant ahead of CAT disclosure, court rules
An English court has confirmed Microsoft’s contractual right to audit software reseller ValueLicensing but imposed undertakings on the tech giant preventing it from using the information to defend against a €270 million standalone damages claim.
In an oral ruling today, Mr Justice Neil Cadwallader said it was sufficient to impose undertakings on Microsoft to stop it from gaining an unfair advantage in ValueLicensing’s separate abuse of dominance lawsuit against the company.
ValueLicensing filed an antitrust damages claim in the High Court of England and Wales in April 2021, alleging that Microsoft had abused its dominant position by using anticompetitive contractual clauses and discounts to stop its business customers from reselling perpetual licenses for Microsoft’s desktop software. The case was subsequently transferred to the Competition Appeal Tribunal in 2022.