A few years ago, it seemed like you couldn't go more than a day or two without one company suing another or complaining to regulators. Things have lightened up lately, though, and today Microsoft and Google have agreed to bury the hatchet with regard to their regulatory complaints.
Both Microsoft and Google today confirmed to Re/code that they will drop any pending regulatory complaints against one another around the world. Additionally, they say that they’ll try to work through any future issues that may crop up before they voice their complaints to regulators.
“Microsoft has agreed to withdraw its regulatory complaints against Google, reflecting our changing legal priorities,” Microsoft said. “We will continue to focus on competing vigorously for business and for customers.”
Google offered a similar statement, saying, “Our companies compete vigorously, but we want to do so on the merits of our products, not in legal proceedings.”
This agreement between Microsoft and Google comes after the two companies dropped their patent lawsuits against one another in September 2015. It’s good to see them agree to drop their complaints against one another and instead focus on competing for customers, as that means that we’ll benefit as they work to gain our business. Google is also probably happy to no longer have regulatory complaints involving Microsoft to worry about, as they’ve got the EU to worry about.
