Novell, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation
United States Court of Appeal for the Tenth Circuit
731 F.3d 1064 (2013)
- Written by Heather Whittemore, JD
Facts
Novell, Inc. (plaintiff) created WordPerfect, a popular word processor. Microsoft Corp. (defendant) gave interoperability information, including namespace extensions (NSEs) that allowed users to have multiple documents open at the same time, to Novell to allow WordPerfect to operate smoothly in Windows. When Microsoft developed Word, its own word processor, it stopped sharing interoperability information with Novell. Bill Gates sent an email directing Microsoft employees to keep NSEs from competitors until Word was better integrated into Windows, so as to give Microsoft Office a competitive advantage. This allowed Word to take over as the dominant word processor. Novell challenged Microsoft’s actions under § 2 of the Sherman Act, arguing that Microsoft had a duty to supply its interoperability information with Novell. The district court held that Microsoft did not violate § 2, and Novell appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Gorsuch, J.)
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