It was only a week ago that we mentioned Novell vs. Microsoft litigation status. According to the Washington Post, this case has just taken a step forward.

Two antitrust claims brought against Microsoft Corp. by Novell Inc. can proceed, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz of Baltimore dismissing four of Novell's six claims but keeping the other two alive.

Novell alleges Microsoft used its monopoly power to limit sales of WordPerfect, a word-processing program, and Quattro Pro, a spreadsheet program.

There's more on the issue in last week's post (links included). This also happens to come at an interesting time when Microsoft faces a possible class action over stealthy “Genuine Advantage” activity.

Microsoft’s “Genuine Advantage” program is now being challenged by a number of Windows XP users in Federal court. If you are interested in helping in this effort to hold Microsoft accountable for using your computer to help Microsoft chase down software pirates without asking for your permission, contact us.

Microsoft is facing another setback as its appeal has just been rejected in the case of alleged racketeering.

The Supreme Court Monday rejected an appeal by Microsoft Corp. and a unit of Best Buy Co. Inc. to dismiss a lawsuit alleging violation of racketeering laws through fraudulently signing up customers for Microsoft's online service.

The companies asked the justices to overturn a May ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the civil suit could proceed. The Supreme Court is letting that ruling stand, which means the class-action lawsuit involving thousands of consumers with complaints against the companies will be litigated in federal district court.

It is curious to see Novell taking an offensive stance against Microsoft (for a change). It is less curious to find that Microsoft keeps breaking the law and gets in endless trouble.