LONDON — Microsoft Corp. and former mobile phone partner Sendo (Birmingham, England) have settled a long-running legal dispute to what both companies say is their mutual satisfaction.

Neither company would reveal the details of the out-of-court settlement, but in a conference call on Monday (Sept. 13), Sendo chief executive Hugh Brogan said he was "extremely pleased" with the outcome.

"There was a monetary component to the outcome, but we are not revealing the details. However, as part of the deal, Microsoft has surrendered is shareholding back to the company," said Brogan. "We got the outcome we were looking for."

Microsoft acquired a near 5-percent stake in privately held Sendo for $12 million when the companies first started working together, and when Sendo became the first company to commit to what was then the Stinger operating system. However, just days before Sendo was due to start shipping its Z100 phone, and with several network operators lined up to offer it, the company pulled the plug on the product and subsequently announced it would develop a new phone based on Symbian's operating system.

That phone, the SendoX series 60, was launched last summer.

Sendo accused Microsoft of maintaining a "secret plan...to plunder the small company of its proprietary information, technical expertise, market knowledge, customers and prospective customers." It also alleged that "Microsoft gained Sendo's trust and confidence through false promises that Sendo would be its 'go-to-market-partner.'"

"Microsoft used Sendo's knowledge and expertise to its benefit to gain direct entry into the burgeoning next-generation mobile phone market and then, after driving Sendo to the brink of bankruptcy, cut it out of the picture," the company's original US court filing alleged.

"Microsoft provided Sendo's proprietary hardware expertise and trade secrets to low-cost original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who would not otherwise have had the expertise to manufacture handsets that would use (Microsoft software) and used Sendo's carrier-customer relationships to establish its own contractual relationships," the lawsuit said.

In the settlement announced Monday, both parties said they deny any and all liability.

Tom Burt, Microsoft's corporate vice president and deputy general counsel said that, having reached this agreement, "We're pleased with this resolution and look forward to continuing to collaborate with phone manufacturers to bring innovative products to mobile customers." Within weeks, Sendo initiated legal action in a Texas court claiming some smartphone features it was developing in conjunction with Microsoft have been adopted in other handsets made by other Microsoft partners. Sendo later sued mobile phone operator Orange, claiming the original SPV handset violated its intellectual property, but this action too has now been settled.