Microsoft and Google make regulatory peace treaty

Microsoft and Google today said they have agreed to drop all regulatory complaints against one another to work out such concerns between themselves in the future.

“Our companies compete vigorously, but we want to do so on the merits of our products, not in legal proceedings,” a Google spokesman said in response to an AFP inquiry.

“As a result, following our patent agreement, we’ve now agreed to withdraw regulatory complaints against one another.”

The US technology industry rivals late last year agreed to end all patent infringement litigation against each other.

A Microsoft spokesman told AFP that the decision to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google around the world reflected “changing legal priorities” while the companies continue “competing vigorously.”

Word of the accord came just days after the European Union opened a new anti-trust battle with Google, charging the US tech giant with abusing the dominance of its Android mobile phone operating system.

The charges, which come one year after Brussels took on Google over its search engine, come as a huge blow to one of the company’s most strategic businesses and could change the face of the global smartphone sector.

Vestager, a former Danish economy minister, said Brussels believed that “Google has abused its dominant position.”

The companies maintained that the regulatory truce, reported earlier by the news website Re/code, was unrelated to the latest development in Europe.

Under chief executive Satya Nadella, Microsoft has made a series of collaborative moves with rivals, including making versions of its popular productivity programs available on Apple devices.