SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A federal judge has dismissed a Utah company’s $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
Novell Inc. claims Microsoft duped it into developing a WordPerfect writing program for Windows 95 only to pull the plug so Microsoft could gain market share with its product. Novell says it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss.
Microsoft countered that Novell was too slow to come up with a compatible program in time for the Windows rollout.
The trial has been ongoing in Salt Lake City for two months. Jurors got the case Wednesday morning, but by Friday told the judge they were “hopelessly deadlocked.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.