Microsoft Corporation settled its software piracy dispute with CITIC-Kington, who agreed to purchase 3.23 million yuan (476,753 U.S. dollars) worth of software from Microsoft Thursday, said local court officials on Friday.

Microsoft sued CITIC-Kington Securities Co., Ltd. for operating nine types of 958 copies of unlicensed Microsoft software worth over 2 million yuan at Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court in October 2009, according to prosecutors.

However, the two companies settled the case out of court. As part of the settlement, CITIC-Kington will purchase 3.23 million yuan in software from Microsoft. The two companies also agreed to cooperate on software asset management and IT management.

Yu Weidong, Microsoft China's senior director on Intellectual Property Rights(IPR) issues, said that settling a lawsuit and building long-term partnerships were an important way for Microsoft to handle IPR issues.

CITIC-Kington declined to comment on the lawsuit.

CITIC-Kington Securities Co., Ltd. was funded by CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. in Hangzhou in September 2006 with a registered capital of 885 million yuan.

(Source: Xinhua)