SCO legerdemain gives us Cattleback to worry about
A two-sentence section of the company's latest 8-K, as read by Groklaw, reports the proposed sale of its Unix business as of October 22, but does not name a buyer.
The deal, if approved, might let someone else continue the firm's notorious Linux patent claims and get SCO out from under any potential liabilities.
SCO now claims they set up Cattleback in July, and agreed to transfer its Unix patents free to them, adding that they didn't see Unix as a viable business for them going forward.
This would mean that, when it filed for bankruptcy protection in September, SCO was no longer a party to the patent litigation, and no longer had any Unix assets.
The company also filed a "Motion for Approval of Compromise of Incipient Controversy," which also transfers a second patent to Cattleback and brings back $570,000 to the company, less a $45,000 bonus to employees for the asset sale.
This does not sound to me like the behavior of a company pursuing a live case which it claims could net millions. But if the deal is allowed to go through, and Cattleback can be sold to someone with cash, the merry-go-round could be going round again.
Before my head spins too fast allow me to close with an offer to readers. I'll post the best proposed logo I get for Cattleback, assuming it's not obscene. Let's at least have some fun with this.