"Microsoft's tussle with UK-based reseller ValueLicensing over the sale of secondhand licenses returns to the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal this week, with the Windows behemoth now claiming that selling pre-owned Office and Windows software is unlawful. ValueLicensing's representatives say this week's trial - due to start tomorrow - will "address whether the entire pre-owned license market was lawful - with Microsoft arguing that it was not lawful to resell pre-owned Office and Windows software at all.""
"The ValueLicensing case has rumbled on for years, beginning with allegations that Microsoft stifled the supply of pre-owned licenses by offering attractive subscription deals to public and private sector organizations in return for the surrender of perpetual licenses. ValueLicensing (and companies like it) operated a business model based on organizations selling their perpetual licenses and resellers selling them on to customers at a discount."
"ValueLicensing alleged that Microsoft added clauses to customer contracts aimed at restricting the resale of perpetual licenses. In return for accepting those contracts, customers were given a discount. Judging by the case so far [PDF], it appears that this practice was a policy at Microsoft. According to ValueLicensing, Microsoft's allegedly anti-competitive antics and attempts to eliminate the secondhand software license market have cost it £270 million in lost profits."
The legal dispute between Microsoft and ValueLicensing has returned to the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal, with Microsoft claiming that resale of pre-owned Office and Windows licenses is unlawful. ValueLicensing says the trial will determine whether the entire pre-owned license market is lawful. The dispute traces to a May 2025 agreement and long-running allegations that Microsoft suppressed the supply of perpetual licenses by offering subscription deals in exchange for surrendered licenses. ValueLicensing alleges restrictive contract clauses and claims £270 million in lost profits. Microsoft contends it owns copyright over non-program elements of Office, raising resale-rule implications.
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