Is this the last word on Novell vs Microsoft?
A decision by the US Circuit Court of Appeals may be the end of the road for two decades of litigation between Novell and Microsoft. After a 2012 jury deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of Novell, there was speculation that Microsoft would settle, but a surprise decision by the judge in that trial led to the appeal which just came out in favor of Microsoft.
In 1995 Novell had just purchased Word Perfect, which dominated the market for word processing software. Novell claimed that Microsoft pulled crucial “API extension’ components out of the Windows 95 operating system, in an effort to cripple competitors of it’s Office products.
That’s certainly the impression many people got when the ‘smoking gun’ memo from Bill Gates was presented at the trial. The memo states “I have decided that we should not publish these extensions,” Gates wrote. We should wait until we have a way to do a high level of integration that will be harder for the likes of Notes, Wordperfect to achieve, and which will give Office a real advantage.” (PDF courtesy of Groklaw, which provides analysis of the case).
Despite this, Judge Fredrick Motz issued a ruling in favor of Microsoft, writing “A monopolist is free ‘to exercise [its] own independent discretion as to parties with whom [it] will deal…a monopolist generally has no duty to cooperate with its competitors.”
The rulings have been another blow to Novell, which was purchased by Attachmate in November. It’s been a long slide down for Novell. At one time they earned the allegiance of countless techies by creating solid products and providing great support. Then came a series of tactical setbacks and an incomprehensible strategic vision (vacuum?).
Novell is still operating in their hometown of Provo, Utah, and who knows what the future will bring. Novell President Bob Flynn noted that “Both Novell and the Attachmate Group look forward to being a significant part of Provo’s future.”
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