Remaining Novell antitrust complaints against Microsoft dismissed

Novell's victory on March 30 in a longstanding Unix patent case with SCO overshadowed another court ruling on March 30 involving the Utah-based company.

The U.S. District Court in Maryland dismissed the last two outstanding antitrust claims Novell filed against Microsoft in 2004 involving WordPerfect and Quattro Pro, two software products Novell owned between 1994 and 1996.

Back in 2004, Novell settled one potential antitrust suit with Microsoft involving NetWare for $536 million. But Novell refused to settle with Microsoft WordPerfect and Quattro Pro at that time.

Novell claimed Microsoft withheld interoperability information it needed to enable those products to run well on Windows. Microsoft tried to get Novell’s complaint dismissed, claiming that it was Novell’s “own mismanagement and poor business decisions” that tanked WordPerfect and Quattro Pro. Plus, Microsoft argued, since Novell sold WordPerfect to Corel now 12 years ago, their claims should be barred under the Statute of Limitations. Four of Novell's claims in this matter had previously been dismissed. But two were allowed to go forward.

Here's a copy of the March 30, 2010 ruling dismissing Novell's remaining antitrust complaints. (Thanks to TechFlash for the link).

“We are pleased and gratified by the court’s ruling," said Kevin Kutz, Director of Public Affairs with Microsoft.

Update (April 1): Novell says it is planning to appeal the decision. The official company statement: "As contemplated in the Court’s decision, Novell does intend to seek appellate court review. Novell remains confident in the fundamental validity of its claims and is pleased the court’s ruling also independently recognizes the same."