Linux Court Battle Broadens

The SCO Group has aimed more legal fire at IBM, filing a motion to amend its trade secrets case against the company for its Linux implementation, just a week ahead of the next scheduled hearing.

It is not clear from court papers exactly how SCO would amend its suit, but a source says it involves an increase in damages. The company's filing says the motion "adds claims that have arisen since the filing of the case." The court set Wednesday as the deadline for amended pleadings in the case. The next hearing scheduled for next Friday, February 13.

Enlarging the Claim

SCO hopes to add two copyright infringement claims to its complaint, says a person familiar with the proceedings. Each claim could increase the amount of damages sought by $1 billion, expanding the total damages at stake in the case to $5 billion, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

An IBM representative had no comment on the motion Friday. A SCO spokesperson, on the advice of the company's legal team, declined to comment.

The amendment will be the second since SCO filed its initial suit against IBM last year. SCO claims Big Blue misappropriated trade secrets related to its Unix license in order to benefit its Linux business. SCO licensed the Unix operating system to a number of companies, including IBM, Sun Microsystems, and Hewlett-Packard after it said that it obtained rights to the license in 1995.

SCO first amended its complaint against IBM in June, increasing the damages amount at the time from $1 billion to $3 billion.

IBM has since countersued, claiming SCO distributed its Linux technology without permission and infringed on technology copyrights.

This Week's Volley

During a hearing in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah on Friday, both parties argued motions that would compel the other party to produce further evidence. IBM is seeking more information around SCO's claims on Unix System V code, while SCO seeks details on IBM's AIX and Dynix, both Unix derivatives.

"The court followed up on its prior hearing and heard motions to compel discovery from both SCO and IBM. The court took the matter under advisement and indicated a written ruling would be forthcoming within the next week or so," SCO spokesperson Blake Stowell says in a statement.

In the motion filed Wednesday, SCO says the proposed amendments to its case address concerns raised in IBM's motion to strike portions of SCO's defenses, "thereby rendering moot IBM's motion to strike."

The company adds that it anticipates IBM may reveal additional evidence through discovery and requested an opportunity to further amend its complaint to address any new evidence. The trial is set for April 11, 2005.