Novell, Red Hat Prevail In Open Source Patent Case

A lawsuit alleging that Novell and Red Hat infringed on patents relating to Linux has been thrown out by a Texas jury.

Novell and Red Hat on Friday said that the lawsuit, filed in October 2007 by IP Innovation LLC and Technology Licensing Corporation (TLC), was thrown out by the jury in the case, which was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

The jury also declared the patents in question invalid.

Novell and Red Hat declared the jury decision a victory for the open-source community.

In the lawsuit, a copy of which can be read here, IP Innovation and TLC accused Novell and Red Hat of infringing on three patents.

They include U.S. Patent No. 5,072,412, entitled ’User Interface With Multiple Workspaces for Sharing Display System Objects;’ Patent No. 5,533,183, entitled ’User Interface With Multiple Workspaces for Sharing Display System Objects;’ and Patent No. 5,394,521, entitled ’User Interface With Multiple Workspaces for Sharing Display System Objects.’

All three patents were developed at Xerox.

Next: Novell Says Open Source Community Will Defend Attacks On Linux

Patent 5,072,412 has been cited as a prime example for the need for patent reform, according to the new site Groklaw.

Jim Lundberg, vice president for legal affairs at Novell, said in a statement the company is pleased the jury reached a verdict in favor of Linux and of open source.

’We hope this verdict sends a strong and unequivocal message to others that Novell and the open source community will vigorously defend any unsupported attacks on Linux and on open source innovation,’ Lundberg said.

Red Hat, in its statement, was more blunt, calling the three patents ’invalid and worthless.’

"The jury knocked out three invalid patents that were masquerading as new and important inventions, when they were not. We appreciate the jury's wisdom and remain committed to providing value to our customers, including through our Open Source Assurance program. We also remain stalwart in resisting bogus shakedown tactics," said Michael Cunningham, executive vice president at Red Hat, in the statement.

Spokespeople from the three companies were not available to comment at press time.