Novell-Microsoft patent deals

Starting in 2006, Novell and Microsoft have made a series of patent deals. These deals were very controversial because they were the first such deals between a software company that uses patents aggressively and a company with strong ties to free software.

Through these deals, Novell helped Microsoft's FUD campaign against GNU/Linux.

(The list of companies that subsequently made similar deals is at Software distributors paying Microsoft patent tax)

Related pages on ESP Wiki

• Free software distributors paying patent tax
• Patent non-aggression pacts
• Patent trolls
• Campaigns to avoid patented ideas

External links

• How Many SUSE Subscriptions Can You Get For $240M?, February 2010
  • Different analysis based on more recent info
• The Boycott Novell news site, set up in reaction to the 2006 deal
• Community Commitments - Microsoft & Novell Interoperability Collaboration
• Microsoft & Novell Interoperability Collaboration