EU and UK competition law expert, Sophie Lawrance, has been quoted in Global Competition Review’s article, ‘Microsoft’s cloud fees targeted in fresh UK mass lawsuit’.

The piece summarises the £1 billion class action claim that Microsoft is facing for ‘allegedly overcharging businesses seeking to license its products for use on rival cloud platforms, with onlookers already predicting the likelihood of a settlement.’

Sophie commented that Maria Luisa Stasi claim ‘appears to be partly inspired by the European antitrust case and the ensuing settlement, which could make the UK case more likely to settle too – albeit at a later stage.’

‘Typically Microsoft would want to try to get some leverage first,’ Lawrence said. But recent judgments in which parties have
failed to strike out claims, coupled with the fact that most claims are now being certified absent a carriage dispute, minimises the opportunity to ‘get any real leverage’ until trial.

To read the full article, see the GCR website (subscription required). We discuss other competition law news on The CLIP Board.