Microsoft’s second-hand licensing appeal gets the brush-off
Court of Appeal refuses Redmond permission to take ValueLicensing fight to the Supreme Court, with a 'Known Adverse Document' still to come
Microsoft's bid to appeal a UK ruling allowing resale of pre-owned software licenses has been rejected by the Court of Appeal. The US tech giant was challenging a November 2025 decision in ValueLicensing's favor, which permitted VL to resell licensed software. ValueLicensing had sued Microsoft for £270 million, alleging that Microsoft had stifled the supply of surplus Office licenses.
Microsoft refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing and instead framed the dispute as a copyright issue. The UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal upheld ValueLicensing's initial ruling, and a Consent Order issued last week demands Microsoft to provide internal documents related to the case. Among the requested documents is an internal presentation titled "Second-Hand Software Presentation."
The order also questions why Microsoft delayed disclosing the existence of the document until the end of 2025. Alexander Wolfson, the proposed class representative in a separate claim against Microsoft for compensation from UK customers, has been named as an intervener in the appeal refusal. Microsoft has no plans to contest the latest decision, and the next step involves a Witness Statement outlining the timeline of events and further disclosure of information.
Written by urgent.news from The Register's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Microsoft’s second-hand licensing appeal gets the brush-off theregister.com
