SCO Group is asking a US court to expand its slander case against Novell in a legal move aimed at Novell's SuSE business.

The Linux pariah has accused Novell of copyright infringement through the company's continued distribution of its SuSE Linux, in alleged violation of its license. SCO Group's accusation is predicated on the underlying claim that UnixWare code it says it owns - specifically UnixWare System V code - exist in Linux.

Additionally, SCO Group has accused Novell of two counts of breach of contract in relation to non-compete provisions by making "unauthorized" distributions of its Unix IP in Linux, breaching the terms of the 1995 Unix Asset Purchase Agreement (APA).

The APA was the deal that saw Novell sell its Unix to the Santa Cruz Operation - aka "oldSCO." SCO Group, or "newSCO", subsequently acquired oldSCO's Unix business and claims copyright as a result.

In its amended filing newSCO has also accused Novell of unfair competition because of its "false claims" of ownership of Unix, "misappropriation" of Unix technology in Linux and "wrongful" attempts by Novell to thwart newSCO's claims of intellectual property ownership.

It's the latest twist in newSCO's two-year legal action against Novell over who exactly owns the UnixWare code. NewSCO launched its case after Novell disputed the company's claim of copyright and patent ownership - brought as a result of newSCO's case against IBM.®

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