Microsoft pre-owned software licenses cases head for linked UK hearings
Two UK claims over Microsoft pre-owned software licenses will be considered in back-to-back September tribunal hearings.
By Dominic Okoye · Staff Writer
· 3 min read
Microsoft pre-owned software licenses will be the subject of linked UK tribunal hearings in September, after reseller ValueLicensing said it had been invited to attend a case-management conference in a separate proposed collective action. The immediate issue is procedural, not damages or liability: the Competition Appeal Tribunal may consider how ValueLicensing's £270 million claim should relate to a newer action seeking £1.3 billion to £3.5 billion.
ValueLicensing chief executive Jonathan Horley said the reseller has a disclosure-focused case-management conference on September 14, followed by the September 15 hearing in proceedings proposed by barrister Alexander Wolfson. Both matters are before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal and concern allegations that Microsoft constrained the secondary market for pre-owned software licences.
ValueLicensing filed its damages claim in 2021. It alleges Microsoft reduced the availability of surplus perpetual Office licences by offering customers moving to subscriptions discounts conditional on surrendering, or agreeing not to sell, licences they no longer needed. Microsoft has denied wrongdoing. The £270 million figure is the reseller's damages request, not an amount awarded by a court.
Wolfson filed the separate proposed opt-out collective action in 2025 on behalf of more than two million UK customers. It seeks compensation of between £1.3 billion and £3.5 billion, based on related allegations about restrictive licensing practices. That action has not yet been certified, and the proposed recovery is a claim rather than an established liability.
What will the Microsoft pre-owned software licenses hearings decide?
A case-management conference sets process, including timetables and other procedural questions. According to Horley, the September 15 hearing could examine whether the Wolfson case should pause until the more advanced ValueLicensing action is decided. The tribunal could also consider whether the claims should ultimately be heard together. It has not indicated which, if either, route it will take.
The shared subject matter does not mean the two actions have merged. Mr Justice Turner is chairing both proceedings, according to ValueLicensing, while the underlying competition allegations and any compensation remain unresolved.
What has the Court of Appeal already decided?
The procedural meetings follow a July Court of Appeal decision that dismissed Microsoft's appeal on two preliminary resale questions in the ValueLicensing case. The appeal concerned whether volume licences can be split and resold, and whether non-program material in Office, such as icons, help files or clip art, changes the application of software-resale rules.
The court sided with ValueLicensing on those preliminary issues. It did not determine whether Microsoft committed the alleged anti-competitive conduct or whether ValueLicensing is entitled to damages. The distinction matters as the tribunal considers two claims that overlap in their account of the secondary market.
Microsoft said after the appellate decision that it respectfully disagreed and would seek permission to appeal. The company said the ruling did not address ValueLicensing's central complaint about offering customers the option to apply the value of older licences toward new cloud subscriptions instead of selling them to third parties. Microsoft maintained that practice was lawful.
Microsoft declined to comment on the upcoming hearings, according to The Register. A spokesperson for the Wolfson action had not commented at the time of that report.
This story draws on original reporting from The Register.
