Novell forcefully rejects SCO's "extraordinary" request for a stay or continuance in its Opposition to SCO's Motion for Expedited Stay or Continuance [PDF]. Novell puts it like this:
SCO presents an extraordinary request for delay. It seeks to defer this case for many months while it burns through the scant remaining cash assets on its balance sheet....Moreover, SCO neglects to offer even a hint as to how it is likely to succeed on the merits of the claims at issue in Novellís Motion.
SCO appears to have missed the point of Novell's motion, namely that if we all wait, SCO will run out of money and have nothing to give Novell. Duh.
I do so love SCO's title. They seek an expedited stay. It reflects a switcheroo in strategy on SCO's part, I think. If you recall, when Novell asked the court for a stay [PDF], SCO fought that motion with both arms and both feet, and it won the right to go forward with the few issues not subject to arbitration. Now, Novell informs the court that at a recent meet and confer over SCO's motion, "SCOís counsel proposed to stay the entire District Court litigation between SCO and Novell." It seems SCO would like a stay after all. Pronto. Like, um, reeeally fast, before Novell wins and takes all its money.
I get the impression that Novell is indicating to the court in highlighting SCO's switch that perhaps the court needs to consider whether what SCO says is really to be relied upon as being so. As for SCO's claim that Novell delayed in bringing this motion, Novell counters, saying no it didn't. It was SCO that for nearly three years "hid the Sun and Microsoft licenses that are the basis of Novellís Motion." Ouch. That gives you a flavor of the document, in which Novell uses arguments SCO used earlier against it now. We seem to be in that phase, where everything SCO has said and done is coming back to haunt it.
There are five exhibits, all PDFs, attached:
- A - emails back and forth between Ken Brakebill to Ted Normand trying to work out a stipulation, where the conversation goes something like this: Brakebill: "On what basis do you object to the proposed amendment?" Normand: "We have reviewed the proposed amendment, and SCO does not agree to stipulate thereto. Regards. Ted" [Update: a couple of readers point out correctly that the conversation is actually the other way around, and that if you work the timeline correctly, and start reading on page four and work back to page one, the emails show that they did work out an agreement to file Novell's amended counterclaims in about 12 days.]
- B - Plaintiff's First Request for Production of Documents and First Set of Interrogatories
- C - Novell's 2nd Set of Requests for Production to The SCO Group (you'll see Novell hasn't missed a thing: "Please produce all agreements between SCO and UNIX vendors resulting from SCO's SCOsource business, as referenced in SCO's Form 10K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2004.")
D - Novell's 1st Set of Interrogatories to the SCO Group and
- E - email from Brakebill to Normand with a proposed Stipulation attached, which is Novell's counterproposal of a mild extension of certain deadlines, which SCO, according to the Opposition papers declined to accept.
Here's the heart of Novell's argument regarding extending discovery, which SCO has asked for:
Extending the fact discovery cutoff at this late stage will have the prejudicial impact of imposing new discovery burdens on Novell as SCO seeks to serve new discovery to which Novell would not otherwise be obliged to respond.
So, something may be up. Or perhaps it's just what Novell indicates, that SCO was neglectful, didn't take advantage of discovery, and now would like to get more time to do what it could and should have done already. Novell tells the court that during the parties meet and confer, Novell offered SCO some proposed time extensions in good faith, and if the court is in any way inclined to provide SCO with a measure of delay, Novell hopes it will adopt their proposed schedule, attached. And there's a footnote of interest, because it clarifies the narrow scope of Novell's motion:
4 As discussed, Novellís motion for preliminary relief concerns only the non-stayed issue of whether SCO improperly breached its fiduciary duties to Novell by wrongfully converting the monies SCO collected from its 2003 licenses with Sun and Microsoft instead of passing them through to Novell. This motion does not entail consideration of any stayed issues such as Novellís Linux-related activities or Novellís alleged infringement of SCOís purported copyrights, as SCO suggests. (See SCOís Mot. for Expedited Stay, PACER No. 156, at 3-4.)
So with that, I'll let you enjoy reading the documents themselves.
MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP
Michael A. Jacobs (pro hac vice)
Kenneth W. Brakebill (pro hac vice)
[address, phone, fax]
ANDERSON & KARRENBERG
Thomas R. Karrenberg, #3726
John P. Mullen, #4097
Heather M. Sneddon, #9520
[address, phone, fax]
Attorneys for Defendant & Counterclaim-Plaintiff Novell, Inc.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH
THE SCO GROUP, INC., a Delaware
Plaintiff & Counterclaim-
NOVELL, Inc., a Delaware corporation,
Defendant & Counterclaim-
FOR EXPEDITED STAY OR
Case No. 2:04CV00139
Judge Dale A. Kimball
SCO presents an extraordinary request for delay. It seeks to defer this case for many
months while it burns through the scant remaining cash assets on its balance sheet. SCO
proposes to stay the entire SCO v. Novell litigation until completion of the SCO v. IBM case or,
in the alternative, to postpone for up to six months the resolution of Novell's currently-pending
petition for dispositive or injunctive relief and the upcoming year-old fact discovery deadline.1
Because SCO's proposals lack good cause and would unfairly prejudice Novell, they should be
denied. At most, the Court should adopt the counterproposal offered by Novell and rejected by
SCO during the meet and confer process.
Among other things, SCO effectively asks the Court to deny Novell's injunction motion
by delaying briefing and hearing on Novell's September 29, 2006 Motion for Partial Summary
Judgment or Preliminary Injunction ("Novell's Motion") -- a motion that concerns the narrow
issue of whether Novell is entitled to a constructive trust comprising the monies SCO collected
from its 2003 licenses with Sun and Microsoft.2In doing so, however, SCO noticeably fails to
address the very issues that would inform the Court's decision on injunctive relief. For example,
SCO brushes aside its dire financial condition, overlooking that the constructive trust proceeds
sought through Novell's Motion will be substantially depleted (or possibly gone) after the
duration of SCO's proposed stay. Moreover, SCO neglects to offer even a hint as to how it is
likely to succeed on the merits of the claims at issue in Novell's Motion.
Finally, SCO's eleventh-hour attempt to prolong fact discovery for six months -- and
thereby impose new discovery obligations on Novell -- is unwarranted. SCO has known of the
November 1, 2006 fact discovery deadline in this case for nearly a year. During this time, SCO
had a full and fair opportunity to conduct discovery. SCO's admitted decision to conduct little
discovery from April 2006 to August 2006 and SCO's apparent inability to sufficiently plan for
its long-known deadlines in the IBM case are inadequate reasons to impose these new discovery
burdens on Novell and substantially delay resolution of this case.
A. Novell's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment or Preliminary
Injunction Is Timely and Should Be Adjudicated Immediately.
Eschewing the merits of Novell's Motion and superficially dismissing any urgency in
light of SCO's financial state, SCO argues that delay of Novell's Motion is acceptable because
Novell "waited for years" to file its injunction request and because Novell's summary judgment
request is "premature." On the contrary, Novell's Motion is a timely-filed response to SCO's
production of previously-undisclosed discovery and Novell's recent amendment of its pleadings
to clarify its legal theories concerning this discovery.
For almost three years, SCO hid the Sun and Microsoft licenses that are the basis of
Novell's Motion. Indeed, beginning in 2003, Novell repeatedly requested information
concerning these licenses so that Novell could verify SCO's compliance with its obligations to
administer collection of SVRX Royalties under the 1995 Asset Purchase Agreement, as
amended. SCO refused. Although SCO finally produced these two licenses in February of this
year (among 650,000 other pages of documents), SCO simultaneously filed a Second Amended
Complaint that raised new issues that were subject to arbitration. When Novell then moved to
stay the arbitrable issues, SCO argued that Novell had waived its right to seek a stay by making
"substantial use of the Court's resources" -- including by filing motions with this Court.3SCO
also specifically pointed to Novell's receipt of SCO's voluminous production containing the Sun
and Microsoft licenses (i.e., the licenses at issue in Novell's Motion) as proof that Novell was
substantially using the litigation process and had thereby waived any right to stay. (SCO's Opp.
Mem. at 12 n.5.)
Once the Court issued its stay order in late August, thereby disposing of SCO's waiver
argument, Novell moved quickly to get its Motion on file. Novell's counsel contacted counsel
for SCO with Novell's proposed counterclaims relating to the Sun and Microsoft licenses. (Ex. 1
at 9/7/06 Brakebill e-mail to Normand.) Two weeks later, after Novell diligently attempted to
procure SCO's stipulation, SCO agreed not to oppose the filing of Novell's amended
counterclaims. (Id at 9/19/06 Normand e-mail to Brakebill.) Three days later, this Court
approved the filing of those counterclaims. (9/22/06 Order Granting Motion for Leave to File
Amended Counterclaims, PACER No. 141.) Novell served them on SCO the following business
day. Novell filed its Motion four days thereafter.4The timing of Novell's Motion is thus not, as
SCO claims, the product of Novell's unnecessary delay in seeking preliminary relief -- much
less part of any nefarious plan by Novell (contrived with IBM's assistance) to "bind SCO's
hands" in the IBM litigation by filing around the time of summary judgment deadlines in the
In addition, Novell's request for summary judgment is not premature. Rather, it is ripe
for consideration. Novell's dispositive motion seeks relief based on two new causes of action
(i.e., breach of fiduciary duty and conversion) and two previously-existing causes of action (i.e.,
accounting and restitution). Each of these causes of action concern (1) the same transactions and
occurrences that were pled in Novell's original counterclaims -- namely, SCO's 2003 licenses
with Sun and Microsoft and SCO's failure to remit to Novell the monies SCO collected from
these licenses, and (2) the same contractual provisions that were pled in Novell's original
counterclaims as the basis for SCO's obligations to remit to Novell -- that is, sections 1.2 and
4.16 of the Asset Purchase Agreement. Indeed, contrary to SCO's statement that there has been
"no discovery specific to" the new causes of action at issue in Novell's Motion, months ago both
parties propounded written discovery on the Sun and Microsoft facts at issue. (See, e.g., Ex. 2,
SCO's 1/11/06 Request for Production Nos. 27, 29-30; Ex. 3, Novell's 12/14/05 Requests for
Production Nos. 6-15; Ex. 4, Novell's 12/30/05 Interrogatories 1-2.) Moreover, Novell's
September 2006 discovery requests do not make Novell's summary judgment motion premature.
Aside from a limited numbers of Requests for Admission asking SCO to admit undisputed terms
in the Sun and Microsoft licenses and the undisputed fact that SCO did not give Novell those
licenses until this litigation, Sun and Microsoft are not the focus of these requests.
Finally, SCO's quick dismissal of its deteriorating financial condition highlights SCO's
failure to understand the need for immediate adjudication of Novell's Motion. SCO's financial
position is more tenuous now than ever. Although SCO's liquid assets (i.e., cash, cash
equivalents, and available-for-sale marketable securities) were somewhat higher on July 31,
2006, as compared to October 31, 2005, SCO fails to put this fact into proper context.5
Immediately following October 31, 2005, SCO raised over $10 million in cash from existing
investors and a member of SCO's Board of Directors. (Jacobs Decl., PACER Nos. 150-151, Ex.
23 at 13.) Thus, SCO's cash position as of July 31, 2005 is not a reflection of growing revenues,
increased profitability, or a bright financial future for SCO.
A more detailed examination of SCO's overall financial position reveals that SCO's
financial picture has been steadily darkening since October 31, 2005. Over the ensuing nine
months, its total assets plummeted, from $28,948,000 to $23,472,000 -- a sum less than the total
monies SCO collected from the 2003 licenses with Sun and Microsoft. (Id at 3, 41.) Over this
same period, SCO's revenues declined 20% (to just $21,890,000) as compared to the same
period in SCO's prior fiscal year. (Id at 4.) In this period SCO also devoured nearly 65% of its
restricted cash supply, which dropped to just $2,010,000 as of July 31, 2006, and burned cash on
an operating basis at a rate of nearly $800,000 a month. (Id at 3-5.) Absent an immediate
hearing on Novell's Motion, Novell will be irreparably prejudiced in that SCO will have little to
no cash assets left to satisfy Novell's claims for relief.
B. There Is No Good Cause to Impose New Discovery Obligations On
Novell By Extending Fact Discovery Six Months.
SCO's proposal to extend the fact discovery period in this case lacks good cause. The
fact that SCO may be busy with deadlines relating to "the impending IBM trial" does not excuse
the fact that SCO has known of its competing demands in the two cases for a long period of time.
SCO has known of the November 1, 2006 fact discovery cutoff in this case for nearly a year,
when it negotiated and agreed on this deadline. (12/1/05 Attorney's Planning Meeting Report,
PACER No. 84, at 3.) It has known of the trial schedule in the IBM case for nearly 15 months.
(SCO v. IBM 7/1/05 Order, PACER No. 466, at 4-6.) SCO also has been aware of its ongoing
summary judgment deadlines in the IBM case for at least four months. (SCO v. IBM 6/8/06
Stipulation Re Amendment to Scheduling Order, PACER No. 694, at 2.) Yet, SCO failed to
seek an extension until days before the discovery cutoff. Extending the fact discovery cutoff at
this late stage will have the prejudicial impact of imposing new discovery burdens on Novell as
SCO seeks to serve new discovery to which Novell would not otherwise be obliged to respond.
Novell also should not be penalized for SCO's failure to conduct timely discovery over
the last year. For example, after SCO filed its Second Amended Complaint in February of this
year, it inexplicably waited until the final days of discovery to (untimely) serve numerous
discovery requests and interrogatories relating, in part, to that new pleading. See Bolden v. City
of Topeka, 441 F.3d 1129, 1149-51 (10th Cir. 2006) (affirming district court's denial of motion
to extend discovery deadline where lower court had found untimely and "null" the written
discovery requests served by Plaintiff during the thirty-day window preceding the court-ordered
deadline to complete discovery). The fact that Novell's stay motion was pending from April to
August 2006 does not excuse SCO's dilatory conduct. Like Novell, SCO could have served new
discovery at any time between the Court's entry of its stay order on August 21, 2006 and the 30-day window preceding discovery's close on November 1, 2006. SCO chose not to. SCO's
apparent neglect should not be rewarded by effectively reopening discovery, and thereby
imposing new obligations on Novell, for another six months.
Finally, Novell's recent amended counterclaims do not open the door to extending the
fact discovery period, either generally or for the more limited purpose of discovery on the new
causes of action. The changes in Novell's new counterclaims are limited in nature. Although
Novell added two causes of action and clarified two existing claims, these modifications
concerned previously-pled transactions in 2003 between SCO, Sun and Microsoft. The parties
engaged in fact discovery on these underlying transactions months ago.
C. Novell Would Agree to the Limited Time Extension Set
Forth in its
Counterproposal Rejected By SCO.
During the parties' meet and confer on SCO's motion, Novell offered SCO a good faith
counterproposal providing for certain extensions of time. (Ex. 5 at 10/10/06 Brakebill e-mail to
Normand.) For example, Novell extended SCO the professional courtesy of an approximate 2-week time extension to file its opposition to Novell's Motion, provided that the extension would
not be used against Novell in its petition for preliminary relief. (Id) SCO refused Novell's
Novell also offered to extend the deadline to complete fact discovery concerning
discovery requests that were timely served under the Court's December 6, 2005 Scheduling
Order and Order Vacating Hearing to January 17, 2007. This would include accommodation for
the parties to complete their noticed depositions by the same date. SCO again refused.
Novell's counterproposal is fair and reasonable and the Court should adopt Novell's
counterproposal if it is inclined to grant any scheduling extensions at all.
DATED: October 18, 2006
ANDERSON & KARRENBERG
/s/ Heather M. Sneddon
Thomas R. Karrenberg
John P. Mullen
Heather M. Sneddon
MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP
Michael A. Jacobs (pro hac vice)
Kenneth W. Brakebill (pro hac vice)
Attorneys for Novell, Inc.
During the parties' meet and confer concerning SCO's motion, SCO's counsel proposed
to stay the entire District Court litigation between SCO and Novell.
In its public filings, SCO valued the amounts it received from the Sun and Microsoft
licenses at $25,846,000. (Jacobs Declaration in Support of Novell's Motion ("Jacobs Decl."),
PACER Nos. 150-151, Ex. 7 at 9.)
See SCO's Memorandum in Opposition to Novell's Motion to Stay ("SCO's Opp.
Mem."), PACER No. 156, at 2 ("[B]y virtue of its lengthy and substantial participation in this
litigation, including its numerous requests for and receipt of substantial discovery, Novell has
waived any purported right to its requested stay."), and 12 ("[T]he litigation machinery has been
substantially invoked. The parties, particularly Novell, have made substantial use of the Court's
resources. They have briefed and litigated, and the Court has adjudicated, [various motions].")
As discussed, Novell's motion for preliminary relief concerns only the non-stayed issue
of whether SCO improperly breached its fiduciary duties to Novell by wrongfully converting the
monies SCO collected from its 2003 licenses with Sun and Microsoft instead of passing them
through to Novell. This motion does not entail consideration of any stayed issues such as
Novell's Linux-related activities or Novell's alleged infringement of SCO's purported
copyrights, as SCO suggests. (See SCO's Mot. for Expedited Stay, PACER No. 156, at 3-4.)
SCO's liquid asset amounts at both points in time constitute a mere portion (40% and
54%, respectively) of the $25,846,000 in Sun and Microsoft revenues for which Novell seeks a
constructive trust. (Jacobs Decl., PACER Nos. 150-151, Ex. 23 at 3.)