In Novell v. Microsoft Corp., Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed software developer Novell Inc.’s lawsuit against Microsoft Inc., alleging that Microsoft blocked Novell from the market in the 1990s by cutting compatibility with its applications. The ruling affirmed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment to Microsoft, holding that Novell couldn’t show that Microsoft’s 1994 decision to withdraw Windows 95 support for WordPerfect and other Novell applications violated the Sherman Act. According to the Tenth Circuit ruling, Microsoft’s 1994 decision was not anti-competitive because Novell knew that a pre-release version of Windows 95 it had received from Microsoft was subject to change. And the antitrust laws rarely impose on firms — even dominant firms — a duty to deal with or help their rivals, so with respect to Novell, Microsoft did nothing unlawful, said the court.
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