SCO looks to widen Linux complaint against IBM

IDG News Service - The SCO Group Inc. aimed more legal fire at IBM this week, filing a motion to amend its Linux complaint against the company ahead of a hearing due to take place today.
It wasn't clear from court papers made public exactly how the suit would be amended, but SCO said in a filing Wednesday that the motion "adds claims that have arisen since the filing of the case." The court set Wednesday as the deadline for amended pleadings in the case.
An IBM representative had no comment on the motion early today, and SCO representatives weren't immediately available to comment.
The amendment will be the second since SCO filed its initial suit against IBM last March, claiming that the larger vendor misappropriated trade secrets related to its Unix license in order to benefit its Linux business. SCO licensed the Unix operating system to companies such as IBM, Sun Microsystems Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. after obtaining rights to the license in 1995.
SCO first amended its complaint against IBM in June, increasing the amount in damages it sought from $1 billion to $3 billion.
IBM has since countersued, claiming that SCO distributed its Linux technology without permission and infringed on technology copyrights.
The companies are due to meet in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah today for a hearing on what information IBM needs to disclose to SCO.
In the motion filed Wednesday, SCO said that the proposed amendments to its case address concerns raised in IBM's motion to strike portions of SCO's defenses, "thereby rendering moot IBM's motion to strike."
The Lindon, Utah, company added that it anticipates that IBM may reveal additional evidence through discovery and requested an opportunity to further amend its complaint to address new evidence.
A trial of the case is set for April 11, 2005.