Jurors continue deliberations in a $1B lawsuit against Microsoft Corp

Jurors continue deliberations in a Utah company's $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp.--Microsoft says Novell just couldn't deliver a compatible product in time. Novell Inc. sued the software giant in 2004, claiming Microsoft duped it into developing the once-popular WordPerfect writing program for Windows 95 only to pull the plug so Microsoft could gain market share with its own product.--Jurors got the case on Wednesday. Novell attorneys pleaded with Motz to give the panel just one more day. Jurors offered no comment after the trial. Microsoft said it would file a motion asking the judge to dismiss Novell's complaint for good and avoid a second trial.

Novell waited until 10 years after Microsoft left WordPerfect behind to file the lawsuit. At first Novell's case was dismissed, but it was later reinstated on appeal. Microsoft lawyers have argued that Novell's loss of market share was its own doing because the company didn't develop a compatible WordPerfect program until long after the rollout of Windows 95. Novell has argued that Gates ordered Microsoft engineers to reject WordPerfect as a Windows 95 word processing application because he feared it was too good.
Novell's lawsuit is the last major private antitrust case to follow the settlement of a federal antitrust enforcement action against Microsoft more than eight years ago.

Jurors in a Utah company's $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft will deliberate again today after nearly 12 hours of discussion Wednesday. Novell is seeking up to $1.3 billion from Microsoft.--Throughout the trial, Novell lawyers argued that because its office products worked on multiple operating systems, Microsoft's snub of WordPerfect for Windows 95 was an illegal effort to maintain its monopoly. Microsoft says Novell's ensuing loss of market share was its own doing because the company didn't develop a compatible WordPerfect program until long after the Windows 95 rollout. "Novell was late.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates testified last month that he had no idea his decision to drop a tool for outside developers would sidetrack Novell. He denied Novell's claim that Microsoft intentionally deceived the company. Gates also said Novell just couldn't deliver a compatible WordPerfect program in time for the rollout, and that Microsoft's own Word program was actually better. Novell argued that Gates ordered Microsoft engineers to reject WordPerfect as a Windows 95 application because he feared it was too good.