CPTN Holdings LLC, a consortium of technology companies organized by Microsoft, is purchasing 882 Novell patents for $450 million cash, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted Monday by Novell.The deal is part of the Attachmate acquisition of Novell, also announced Monday, and expected to close in the first quarter of next year. In the original announcement, Novell stated only that CPTN would acquire “certain intellectual property assets.” In a Form 8-K filing with the SEC, Novell stated that in the patent purchase agreement “Novell will sell to CPTN all of Novell’s right, title and interest in 882 patents … for $450 million in cash.” A quick look through the U.S. Patent Office database finds 461 patents that listed Novell under the assignee name. Microsoft declined to comment beyond sending out a statement from the company’s general counsel.“We are pleased to be a part of the acquisition of certain intellectual property assets of Novell. Microsoft looks forward to continuing our collaboration with Novell into the future, to bring mixed source IT solutions to customers,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel. It was not clear Monday which other technology companies are involved with CPTN Holdings.A limited liability corporation of that name was formed in Delaware on Nov. 4, according to a search of the state’s website, but few other details were immediately available. A similar search on the website of Microsoft’s home state of Washington turned up no results.Also not clear is why Microsoft is interested in the Novell patents. In 2004, Novell hit Microsoft with an antitrust lawsuit, alleging that Microsoft tried to squelch competition in the office-productivity-applications market during the time that Novell owned WordPerfect, which is now owned by Corel. The patents slated for acquisition probably wouldn’t have that much bearing on the antitrust case, though, noted Charles King, Pund-IT’s president and principal analyst of the Pund-IT analysis firm. Another possible area of interest for Microsoft would be the Unix intellectual property held by Novell. The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah confirmed in March that Novell owned the copyrights around Unix, ending a seven-year battle between SCO and Novell over ownership rights. Microsoft has asserted in the past that it owns some of the intellectual property in the Linux kernel, an open-source version of the Unix kernel. In 2006, Novell struck a five-year agreement with Microsoft in which Microsoft agreed not to assert patent rights for any technology it may posses that would be in Novell’s SUSE Linux distribution. The deal “was controversial in the open-source community because Microsoft was less than transparent about where the actual IP infringements were,” King said. The two companies also agreed to develop technologies that would help Unix and Microsoft Windows computers interoperate more smoothly. Attachmate will continue to manage Suse Linux as a stand-alone separate business. Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab’s e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com Related content news analysis What we're expecting from iOS 18, Siri, and genAI Apple is expected to add a host of enhancements in this year's iteration of its iPhone software. By Jonny Evans Jun 03, 2024 7 mins Apple Generative AI iOS feature Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build? Get the latest info on new preview builds of Windows 11 as they roll out to Windows Insiders. Now updated for Build 26120.751 for the Dev Channel, released on May 31, 2024. By Preston Gralla Jun 03, 2024 262 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows 11 feature Office 365: A guide to the updates Get the latest info on new features, bug fixes, and security updates for Office 365/Microsoft 365 for Windows as they roll out from Microsoft. Now updated for Version 2405 (Build 17628.20110), released on May 30, 2024. By Preston Gralla Jun 03, 2024 111 mins Microsoft 365 Microsoft Office Office Suites how-to Google Spaces cheat sheet: How to get started Google Spaces lets you create collaborative workspaces where your team can chat about projects, share files, assign tasks, and more — all within the Google Chat interface. Learn how to use Spaces in 10 steps. By Howard Wen Jun 03, 2024 23 mins G Suite Collaboration Software Productivity Software Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe