A noteworthy statement has come from yet another article (among several others), which describes Novell's financial dependence on Microsoft.

Dragoon said that his company also rejects Microsoft's claim and that the payment was intended to cover a variety of software products made by Novell, not just Linux.

Make a mental note. Novell says that the patents/infringements which it paid to cover are not necessarily Linux-related. One could therefore argue that Novell addressed the need to resolve collision in its proprietary products, not Linux.