{
  "id": 19880,
  "title": "Microsoft seeks Supreme Court lifeline in pre-owned license battle",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/07/27/microsoft-seeks-supreme-court-lifeline-in-pre-owned-license-battle",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-07-27T11:30:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register Software",
    "slug": "the-register-software",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/07/27/microsoft-seeks-supreme-court-lifeline-in-pre-owned-license-battle/5278823"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Microsoft has secured a reprieve in the ValueLicensing saga, seeking Supreme Court permission to continue its legal battle over pre-owned license agreements. Earlier in July, the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled that reselling Microsoft on-premises software licenses did not infringe copyright. Microsoft appealed this decision but lost on July 7th. The case was initially stayed in February, pending the Court of Appeal's decision, and was granted an extended stay on July 21st after Microsoft indicated its intention to appeal. Microsoft's strategy has been to argue that reselling its software constitutes copyright infringement. The CAT disagreed with this stance. In 2021, ValueLicensing sued Microsoft for £270 million, alleging that the company stifled the supply of surplus Office licenses. The stay does not cover ValueLicensing's disclosure and confidentiality applications, which are expected to be considered in September. The decision to grant the stay has been described as a \"middle ground\" by the CAT Chair, Justin Turner KC, who noted the potential for wasted costs if the appeal is successful and the undesirability of further delays.",
  "summary": "£270M ValueLicensing case remains mostly paused while Redmond pursues permission to appeal",
  "key_points": [
    "Microsoft seeks Supreme Court permission to continue pre-owned license legal battle.",
    "UK Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled reselling Microsoft licenses doesn't infringe copyright.",
    "Microsoft lost appeal on July 7th, case stayed since February."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}