It's been going on for years, but this week, a judge has ruled in favor of Microsoft in a court case that centers on the now defunct WordPerfect software. About eight years ago, Novell filed a lawsuit, claiming that Microsoft deliberately delayed the release of WordPerfect on Windows 95 in order "to suppress the sales of WordPerfect and Novell's related office productivity applications."

The case finally came to trial in 2011 and ended with a hung jury. One person out of the 12 jury members felt that Novell had not proved their case. As it turned out, a judge has agreed with that one jury member. Ars Technica reports that US District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz has dismissed the case.

In his ruling, Judge Motz points out that WordPerfect's market share of the office productively software industry was already at 15 percent around the time Novell claims that Microsoft tried to suppress WordPerfect support in Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system. Even if WordPerfect had launched with Windows 95, the judge ruled that it was unlikely to be successful with such a low market share.

In a statement, Microsoft said, "We’ve maintained throughout this case that Novell’s arguments lack merit, and we’re gratified with today’s ruling dismissing the last of Novell’s claims and putting this matter to rest." However, this case isn't over yet. Novell claims they will appeal the judge's ruling.

Source: Ars Technica