WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 12 2004 – LAWFUEL – Law, antitrust, litigation, legal news – Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) today filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court in Utah seeking unspecified damages arising from Microsoft’s efforts to eliminate competition
in the office productivity applications market during the time that Novell
owned the WordPerfect word processing application and the Quattro Pro
spreadsheet application. Novell previously announced its intention to file the
lawsuit on Nov. 8.
Among other claims, Novell asserts that Microsoft withheld certain
critical technical information about Windows from Novell, thereby impairing
Novell’s ability to develop new versions of WordPerfect and other Novell(R)
office productivity applications. The complaint also alleges that Microsoft
integrated certain technologies into Windows designed to exclude WordPerfect
and other Novell applications from relevant markets. In addition, Novell
asserts that Microsoft used its monopoly power to prevent hardware partners
from offering WordPerfect and other applications to customers. The lawsuit is
based in part on facts proved by the United States Government in its
successful antitrust case against Microsoft, in which Microsoft was found to
have unlawfully maintained a monopoly in the market for personal computer
operating systems by eliminating competition in related markets.
Novell acquired the WordPerfect word processing program when Novell and
WordPerfect Corporation merged in June of 1994. In a related transaction
during the same time period, Novell purchased Quattro Pro, a spreadsheet
product, from Borland International. The combined value of WordPerfect and
Quattro Pro at the time of the transactions was over $1 billion. Both
WordPerfect and Quattro Pro were sold to Corel Corporation in March of 1996
for approximately $170 million.
WordPerfect’s share of the word processing market was almost 50 percent in
1990, but fell to less than 10 percent by the time Novell sold WordPerfect and
related applications in 1996. Microsoft Word’s share of the word processing
market rose from approximately 20 percent prior to 1990 to a monopoly share of
approximately 90 percent by 1996.
“While this lawsuit is unrelated to Novell’s current business, the claims
are important and hold considerable value for Novell,” said Joseph A. LaSala,
Jr., Novell’s senior vice president and general counsel. “We intend to pursue
aggressively a goal of recovering fair value for the harm caused to Novell’s
business by Microsoft’s anticompetitive actions.”
The lawsuit follows extensive, yet unsuccessful, discussions between
Microsoft and Novell to resolve the WordPerfect claims without resorting to
litigation. Novell announced on Nov. 8 that it had reached an agreement with
Microsoft to settle potential antitrust litigation related to Novell’s NetWare
operating system in exchange for Microsoft paying Novell $536 million.
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This press release includes statements that are not historical in nature
and that may be characterized as “forward-looking statements,” including those
related to future financial and operating results, benefits and synergies of
the company’s brands and strategies, future opportunities and the growth of
the market for open source solutions. You should be aware that Novell’s actual
results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, which are based on current expectations of Novell management and
are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited
to, Novell’s ability to integrate acquired operations and employees, Novell’s
success in executing its Linux strategies, Novell’s ability to deliver on its
one Net vision of the Internet, Novell’s ability to take a competitive
position in the Linux industry, business conditions and the general economy,
market opportunities, potential new business strategies, competitive factors,
sales and marketing execution, shifts in technologies or market demand and the
other factors described in Novell’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on July 2, 2004. Novell disclaims any
intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result
of developments occurring after the date of this press release.
About Novell
Novell, Inc. is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver
secure identity management (Novell Nsure(TM)), Web application development
(Novell exteNd(TM)) and cross-platform networking services (Novell
Nterprise(TM)), all supported by strategic consulting and professional
services (Novell Ngage(SM)). Active in the open source community with its
Ximian(R) and SUSE(R) LINUX brands, Novell provides a full range of Linux
products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server.
Novell’s vision of one Net – a world without information boundaries – helps
customers realize the value of their information securely and economically.
For more information, call Novell’s Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC
(4272) or visit http://www.novell.com . Press should visit
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Web Site: http://www.novell.com
