Samsung paid Microsoft $1B in patent royalties last year, but it now wants to void the contract

Samsung and Microsoft initially inked an Android patent licensing deal back in 2011, but since then, Samsung’s dominance in the smartphone has grown incredibly fast. The South Korean company, according to court documents that become public on Friday, is now saying that it no longer wants to pay the royalties to Microsoft.

According to the court documents, Samsung paid $1 billion to Microsoft last year as part of the patent agreement, but the Redmond company is now taking Samsung to court over a remaining $6.9 million owed from 2013 and the continuation of the agreement for future years. Samsung believes that it should no longer have to honor the original deal because of Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia, which the company claims violates the cross-licensing patent deal.

In a statement to Re/Code, Microsoft Deputy General Counsel David Howard had the following to say:

“We are confident that our case is strong and that we will be successful. At the same time, Microsoft values and respects our long partnership with Samsung, is committed to it, and expects it to continue.”

Samsung and Microsoft are obviously big partners in other aspects of their businesses, with Samsung making both Windows Phone devices and Windows computers. However, the $1 billion a year Microsoft is getting from Samsung as part of this agreement is huge percentage of the company’s mobile profits. Apple, who has continually battled both Samsung and Google in court may never earn them the $1B/year deal.