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Microsoft wins antitrust lawsuit brought by Novell

Microsoft wins antitrust lawsuit brought by Novell

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The US Supreme Court's decision to reject without comment an appeal from Novell signals the end of Novell's decade-long antitrust claims against Microsoft Corp. This follows an earlier ruling by the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals that also favored Microsoft. According to The Associated Press, the 10th Circuit had ruled that "Novell's complaint came too late" and that "it failed to make the larger case that Microsoft was protecting a monopoly on operating systems."

Novell originally filed a suit against Microsoft in 2004. Among other claims, Novell asserted the software giant had withheld "certain critical technical information." By doing so, Microsoft allegedly hampered the company's ability "to develop new versions of Word Perfect and other Novell office productivity applications." Novell sought as much as $1.3 billion in damages.