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U.S. Supreme Court rejects Microsoft anti-trust appeal
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a Microsoft appeal to an antitrust case that dates back to Novell’s desktop software business in the mid-1990s.
The move leaves standing a lower court ruling that says Novell can sue Microsoft under federal antitrust laws. Novell argued that Microsoft used its monopoly power to sink QuattroPro and WordPerfect, the spreadsheet and word processor Novell owned, in the PC software market.
The court had no comment and Chief Justice John Roberts abstained because he is a Microsoft shareholder, according to AP.
“Microsoft specifically targeted WordPerfect and Novell’s other office productivity applications because they threatened Microsoft’s Windows monopoly,” according to the Novell court filing quoted by Bloomberg.
In its case, Novell also said that Microsoft withheld technical information to make WordPerfect work with Windows 95.
In its appeal, Microsoft argued that federal antitrust laws don’t apply to the case because Novell does not compete in operating systems.
In the late 1990s, Microsoft settled federal and state antitrust suits against it, which includes ongoing oversight over the company’s actions.
The Novell case is the largest of remaining private suits against the company.
Microsoft contended in its appeal that Novell can’t invoke the U.S. antitrust laws because it didn’t compete against Windows in the operating system market.
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