The seven-year legal battle between Novell and SCO Group over ownership of the Unix software copyright may finally be at an end. Thursday the judge in the long-running case refused to back SCO’s claims against Novell, effectively bringing the case to a close.
Judge Ted Stewart granted Novell’s claim for declaratory judgment in the case and denied both SCO’s claims for a new trial and for “specific performance and breach of the implied covenant of good fair dealings,” according to the Groklaw Website, which has been following the case.
“The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case forthwith,” Stewart wrote, according to Groklaw.
The ruling comes more than two months after a U.S. District Court jury in Utah found in Novell’s favor, concluding that Novell was the rightful owner of all Unix copyrights.
The judge’s decision could mean the end of the legal road for Lindon, Utah-based SCO, which is currently struggling through bankruptcy. But the company could still appeal the case to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a story on the Website of The Salt Lake Tribune.
SCO Group has long claimed that it received copyrights to Unix from Novell when the Santa Cruz Operation, SCO's predecessor, acquired Unix from Novell in 1995. Novell, which bought Unix from AT&T, has maintained over the years that the sale of Unix to SCO did not include those copyrights.
SCO Group in 2004 sued Novell, accusing it of interfering with SCO's Unix rights. SCO also charged Novell with "slander of title" or making false statements about SCO's ownership of Unix.
In July of 2008, a federal judge found that SCO Group owed Novell $2.5 million for improperly claiming and collecting royalties for the Unix SVRx operating system.
