Microsoft faces overlapping legal battles over resale of pre-owned Office licences

The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has scheduled two related hearings that could shape the future of Microsoft’s pre-owned software licence market. ValueLicensing, the reseller that brought a £270 million claim against Microsoft in 2021, is slated for a case-management conference on 14 September to advance disclosure matters. On 15 September, the tribunal will hear the first procedural hearing in the Alexander Wolfson-led class action, which aggregates claims from more than two million UK customers and seeks between £1.3 billion and £3.5 billion in compensation.

Both cases allege that Microsoft used restrictive licensing terms to choke off the resale of surplus Office licences, inflating prices and stifling competition. The tribunal may consider staying the class action until the ValueLicensing case is resolved, or potentially consolidating the two suits. The ValueLicensing claim is further ahead, having survived a Court of Appeal dismissal of Microsoft’s appeals, though the tech giant can still seek Supreme Court permission. Microsoft and the class-action representatives have not provided comments.