Utah Jury Confirms Novell Has Ownership of Unix Copyrights

WALTHAM, Mass., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today the jury in the District Court of Utah trial between SCO Group and Novell issued a verdict determining the ownership of important Unix copyrights.

The jury's decision confirmed Novell's ownership of the Unix copyrights, which SCO had asserted to own in its attack on Linux. Novell remains committed to promoting Linux, including by defending Linux on the intellectual property front.

Ron Hovsepian, Novell president and CEO, said "This decision is good news for Novell, for Linux, and for the open source community. We have long contended that this effort against Linux has no foundation, and we are pleased that the jury, in a unanimous decision, agrees. I am proud of Novell's role in protecting the best interests of Linux and the open source community."

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About Novell

Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) delivers the best engineered, most interoperable Linux platform and a portfolio of integrated IT management software that helps customers around the world reduce cost, complexity and risk. With our infrastructure software and ecosystem of partnerships, Novell harmoniously integrates mixed IT environments, allowing people and technology to work as one. For more information, visit www.novell.com.

SOURCE Novell, Inc.