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The Court of Appeal has handed down a judgment relating to the ongoing Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) dispute between JJH Enterprises Limited (trading as ValueLicensing, “VL”), a seller of pre-owned software licences, and Microsoft.

Microsoft has now lost twice in a £270 million case brought by UK reseller ValueLicensing, and it is asking the Supreme Court for permission to try again. The Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled in 2025 that reselling and subdividing Microsoft's on-premise licences did not infringe its copyright. Microsoft appealed. On July 7, it lost that too. On July 21, the tribunal granted an extended stay while Microsoft prepares its Supreme Court application, but stopped short of freezing the case entirely.

Still smarting from Court of Appeal loss earlier in July, Microsoft has secured an extended stay in the ValueLicensing saga as it seeks the Supreme Court's blessing for one more roll of the dice.

"...the Court of Appeal's judgment sketches some of the missing principles from UsedSoft, namely when a computer programme falls outside the bounds of a 'complex product' and whether subdivision is possible... the judgment uses the incidental feature test to preserve the balance between the Software Directive and Information Society Directive: this time, it was in favour of market and consumer interests."

While the Competition Appeal Tribunal has extended the stay of the main proceedings pending Microsoft's proposed appeal to the Supreme Court, it has allowed ValueLicensing's outstanding disclosure and confidentiality applications to continue. Those applications are expected to be considered at a further Case Management Conference in September, meaning the case continues to move forward despite the stay.