Microsoft and Samsung have settled a lawsuit surrounding a handful of Android patents after Samsung refused to pay Microsoft in 2014 following the Nokia acquisition.

In Samsung's eyes, the $7.5 billion acquisition of Nokia breached the terms discussed by Samsung when the patents were first leased to the South Korean company.

Like Us on Facebook

It's not clear what stopped Microsoft from pushing. Perhaps Samsung coughed up the owed money or perhaps Samsung offered Microsoft a deal on its Windows Phone service.

Samsung did reportedly offer Microsoft a Windows Phone device in the low-end if Microsoft dropped the current patent licensing agreement. It's not clear if Microsoft agreed to the new investment in Windows Phone, which could see another Samsung flagship running the Redmond mobile OS.

The deal apparently went into the billions for Samsung and earned Microsoft more revenue than the entire Windows Phone platform. This led to questions about Microsoft's investment in mobile when it could make more money through an Android only pursuit.

Samsung isn't the only company paying Microsoft for patent-royalty licensing. Around a dozen companies are apparently on Microsoft's list selling Android, Chrome OS or Linux devices.

Microsoft holds over 300 patents on Android and is one of the largest patent providers in the world. This means companies sometimes have to go through Microsoft rather than Google to get their devices approved.

TagsPatent