Mark Wilden acts for successful claimant ValueLicensing in trial against Microsoft before CAT

12th November 2025

Mark Wilden

3PB’s specialist intellectual property barrister Mark WildenMark WildenCall: 2018 acted for the successful claimant, JJH Enterprises (trading as ValueLicensing), in a claim before the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in a case involving the legality of selling pre-owned Microsoft Office and Windows software. In a judgement handed down yesterday as [2025] CAT 75 the tribunal found for the claimant on all substantive issues.

The hearing resolved the key question of whether Microsoft's Windows and Office fall outside the EU’s copyright exhaustion rules for software, which allow the resale of perpetual software licenses, because of the inclusion of literary and artistic works including fonts and clip art. This decision is a significant statement of the legal foundation for the software resale markets in the UK and across Europe.

The Tribunal ruled that exhaustion under Article 4(2) of the Software Directive is not limited by contractual terms in Microsoft's Enterprise Agreements, and that the distribution and reproduction rights enjoyed by Microsoft do not prevent the subdivision and resale of licences obtained by the first acquirer. The Tribunal also ruled that the first online sale of Windows and Office exhausts the distribution and/or reproduction right under Article 4(2) of the Software Directive to the extent those works are distributed, downloaded and copied in accordance with the intended purpose for which Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office were first sold.

The case of JJH Enterprises Limited (trading as ValueLicensing) v Microsoft Corporation and Others [2025] CAT 75 has been widely reported in the media, including Law360, MSN News and The Register.

To read a summary of the case, please click here. Alternatively you can get the full judgement here.

Mark was instructed by specialist disputes law firm Ghaffari Fussell LLP and led by Matthew Lavy KC of 4 Pump Court, and appeared with Henry Edwards of 8 New Square.

To contact or instruct Mark, please email Chambers Director David Fielder on [email protected] or telephone him on 020 7583 8055.