New date for SCO v IBM hearing

Progress? Maybe

By Lucy Sherriff, 29th July 2004

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A new court date has been set for the SCO v IBM motion hearing. Originally scheduled for 4 August, the hearing has been moved to 2pm on 15 September. Coming after eighteen months of legal wrangling, the September hearing will be a defining moment in the dispute, with SCO having by far the most to lose.

In March, IBM asked the courts to absolve it of any claims of copyright infringement made by SCO, a year into the court battle over the ownership of sections of UNIX code. SCO naturally filed a motion to dismiss this request.

If IBM wins this latest round of litigation, it will pretty much put the kibosh on SCO's end user lawsuits, of which the company has filed several, GrokLaw says. Recently, AutoZone won a stay of its case, when the judge ruled that the IBM hearing should come first.

For SCO, then, the 15 September hearing will be a make or break date in its battle to claim Linux for its own. However, if the judge grants SCO's motion to dismiss IBM's claims of non-infringement, IBM will have other opportunities to argue this point.

Earlier this week, Judge Kimball gave both parties an amended timeline for filing relevant documents. He ordered that IBM file its Memorandum in Opposition to SCO's Motion to Compel by 4 August. SCO's answer in support of that document is due on the 18th. Both companies have been ordered to submit documents relating to IBM's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment by 16 August. ®

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