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UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh? - Updated
Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:01 PM EDT

UnXis has put out a press release claiming that the sale of SCO's assets went through and amazingly enough claiming to have gotten the UNIX and UnixWare trademarks. Of course, that isn't possible from all I know. They should probably talk to the X/Open group about that claim.

Lordy. This is like going back to Go. SCO made that claim too, if you recall at the very beginning, lo so many years ago, when SCO's assault on Linux was young and so was Groklaw.

Let me guess. UnXis doesn't want Groklaw to retire?

Eric LeBlan says, "We foresee our software becoming a critical component of the new Internet highways currently being developed in the Middle and Far East, from Riyadh to Beijing." New Internet highways? I hope they're just kidding around. If not, don't forget the tubes, guys. You need tubes for the Internets, y'all.

Well, maybe the plan is to sell where no one knows who SCO is and how they have historically treated customers.

The press release issues from Dubai:

UnXis Completes Purchase of SCO Unix Assets

DUBAI, UAE, April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Vision and Leadership to Shape Future of SCO Unix Technology, Supported by New Team to Drive Innovation and Talent Acquisition

UnXis, Inc. announced today that the purchase of The SCO Group, Inc. operating assets and intellectual property rights has been successfully completed with the transfer of the entire Unix operating systems and software solutions and employees of The SCO Group. UnXis now owns all intellectual property rights and assets related to SCO clearing the way for financial growth and pioneering technical improvements, under its new leadership.

UnXis is committed to investing $25 million over the next 18 months into product and technology developments, as well as building upon its world-class management, sales and customer support team. UnXis has retained all customer contracts, the UNIX and UNIXWARE trademarks and an installed base of 32,000 customer contracts maintained in 82 countries, including McDonald's, Siemens, Sperbank, China Post, Thomson Reuters and the US Department of Defense.

UnXis, Inc is owned jointly by Stephen Norris, previous co-founder of the Carlyle Group and MerchantBridge, a leading international private equity group with diverse interests operating from offices in the United Kingdom, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. MerchantBridge has completed nine private equity transactions in the past five years, with an enterprise value of $4.5 billion.

UnXis has appointed Richard A. Bolandz as CEO. Over the past twenty years, Bolandz has lead competitive strategy, corporate development and technology commercialization at organizations including Qwest Communications MCI Communications and UNISYS Global Outsourcing & Infrastructure Services.

Richard A. Bolandz, CEO of unXis commented today: "Our first commitment is to our customers, value added resellers and channel partners to support their existing needs as well as a whole new generation of hardware, software and trends of the cloud."

Eric le Blan, Vice Chairman of unXis and COO of MerchantBridge, continued by saying: "The acquisition of this exciting business is opening up vast opportunities within the IT sector and unXis is strategically positioned to aggressively grow in the coming months. We are delighted to announce that the entire staff of The SCO Group has accepted employment with unXis, Inc, and I thank them for their enthusiastic backing as well as SCO customers for their support. With the continuity provided by the team and the active role played by key customers, together with the expertise of the partners that we are bringing on board, we are strategically positioned to provide the most reliable, secure and scalable operating systems in such diverse environments as global cloud computing enterprises and small and medium-size businesses; such is the flexibility of our software solutions. We foresee our software becoming a critical component of the new Internet highways currently being developed in the Middle and Far East, from Riyadh to Beijing."

Under the new vision, unXis will focus on 3 immediate priorities:

- Industry-Leading Technology

Harnessing the unmatched reliability, scalability and security of Unix, the company has a dedicated vision to serve small and medium-size businesses, enterprise and OEM customers through development of a new generation of hardware, software and cloud computing.

- Collaborative Operating Model

The company is committed to collaborating with each customer across SCO's vast footprint across 82 countries to provide the best, customizable technology solution and support to drive their business forward.

- Best and Brightest Talent

The company is making an enormous investment in talent with some key strategic hires as well as doubling resources in engineering, technical support and customer relationship management.

"With today's completion of the acquisition, we have cleared the way for the rebirth of the Unix operating system that for nearly 30 years has reliably powered mission-critical information systems around the globe. With the purchase of these valuable assets complete, we can now focus 100 percent of our attention on bringing state-of-the-art technology capabilities to the Unix platform, improving customer service and support, whilst capitalizing on the robust and secure SCO Unix operating system for today's cloud-based systems." concluded Bolandz.

About unXis Inc.:

UnXis was formed by Stephen Norris and MerchantBridge to acquire all the operating assets and intellectual property rights of The SCO Group, Inc. http://www.sco.com

For more information please visit http://www.unxisco.com

About MerchantBridge:

MerchantBridge is an international private equity group established over a decade ago by a group of industry veterans. It is authorized and regulated by the FSA in London and also has offices in Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. MerchantBridge specializes in identifying opportunities across the MENA region and Europe and executing on complex, cross-border opportunities, as well as offering corporate finance advisory services in select situations to multinational corporations and governments. Over the past five years MerchantBridge has completed nine private equity transactions in Europe, Canada and the Middle East. These investments have an enterprise value of $4.5 billion, generating an IRR in excess of 40 per cent on realised and unrealized private equity and direct investment transactions. Diversification, creative thinking and adherence to ethical principals are the pillars of MerchantBridge's success. In Iraq, MerchantBridge is already engaged in telecommunications ("Asiacell"), commercial banking ("Mansour Bank") and oil and gas services. http://www.merchant-bridge.com

So, does the vision include 64-bit? Just asking.

Here's why I don't believe that UnXis got the trademarks:

  • The 1995 Asset Purchase Agreement [PDF] between Novell and Santa Cruz Organization had an Excluded Assets schedule, which read like this:
    Excluded Assets
    (Page 2 of 2)

    V. Intellectual Property:

    A. All copyrights and trademarks, except for the trademarks UNIX and UnixWare.

    B. All Patents

  • Then Amendment 2 clarified like this: "A. With respect to Schedule 1.1(b) of the Agreement, titled "Excluded Assets", Section V, Subsection A shall be revised to read:
    All copyrights and trademarks, except for the copyrights and trademarks owned by Novell as of the date of the Agreement required for SCO to exercise its rights with respect to the acquisition of UNIX and UnixWare technologies. However, in no event shall Novell be liable to SCO for any claim brought by any third party pertaining to said copyrights and trademarks."
    As you are aware, at trial, it was decided by the jury that this meant that the copyrights didn't transfer at all. The case wasn't about trademarks, but you can extrapolate.

  • You don't even have to do that much. Here's the hearing where SCO said that it didn't have the trademarks, when Wayne Gray tried to get them, claiming that SCO did in fact own the trademarks [transcript as PDF]. It was brought out at the hearing that in 1996, the trademark UNIX was fully assigned to X/Open. Bonnie Fatell for SCO, on page 39: "But, essentially, it is the position of SCO, Novell and X Open that pursuant to this confirmation agreement that the trademarks were transferred and registered with X Open and that SCO does not claim an ownership right to those trademarks. That's history." Here's the paragraph that matters from that agreement, which Santa Cruz signed:
    paragraph from page 3 of the 1996 document is pertinent: 5. This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements, arrangements and understandings among the parties and, together with any relevant portions of the 1994 Agreement that are not inconsistent with this Agreement, constitute the entire understanding among the parties relating to the subject matter of this Agreement. No addition to or modification of any provision of this Agreement shall be binding on the parties unless made by a written instrument signed by a duly authorized representative of each of the parties.
    This means this 1996 document trumps whatever was said in 1995 or earlier. And here's the language:
    NOW, THEREFORE, for appropriate consideration, the adequacy and sufficiency of which are acknowledged, the parties agree as follows:

    1. At the request of X/OPEN, NOVELL shall, as soon as possible after the date of execution of this Agreement, execute appropriate assignment document(s), to be prepared by X/OPEN, formally transferring to X/OPEN the legal title to the UNIX trademark. As among NOVELL, SCO and X/OPEN, and notwithstanding any prior understandings to the contrary, NOVELL shall for this purpose be considered the owner of legal title to the UNIX trademark and shall execute such assignment document(s) as assignor. SCO agrees that notwithstanding the fact that NOVELL will be executing such assignment document(s) after the Closing Date established by the APA, such assignment by Novell shall not be considered a breach of NOVELL's obligations under the APA. X/OPEN acknowledges and confirms that, as of the date of execution of such assignment document(s) ("Assignment Date"), it will be solely responsible for all expenses and fees incident to the protection and enforcement of the UNIX mark, including but not limited to expenses of seeking, obtaining and preserving registration of same, and the expenses of transferring existing registrations into the name of X/OPEN; provided, however, that with respect to any document that is required to be executed by SCO to perfect X/OPEN's title to such mark after such assignment, SCO shall execute such document without cost to X/OPEN.

    It was in 1994 that Novell promised the trademark to X/Open, and in 1996 it was fulfilled. You can find links to the document on the hearing notes page. And all this was hashed out in a court case Gray brought in Florida, where he claimed SCO had the trademarks, and he lost. All his claims were tossed out on summary judgment, and here's the Order. He appealed and he lost again. So on what basis could SCO sell the UNIX trademark to unXis? It didn't own them to sell.

  • Here's X/Open [PDF], which was involved in the Gray litigation and in the USPTO matter, telling what happened:
    Novell granted X/Open an exclusive license to use the UNIX mark in an agreement dated May 10, 1994, and subsequently assigned the UNIX mark to X/Open pursuant to that agreement.
  • X/Open, also known as the Open Group, told that to the world back in 2004, explaining that SCO doesn't own the UNIX trademark or the UnixWare trademark:
    They don't own UNIX; they have only the same rights to use the trademark as any other certified product. They are incorrect in asserting UNIX ownership. They do not own UNIX or the UNIXWare trademarks, they do own the source code to the UNIX implementation that they purchased from Novell and the UNIXWare product, but they do not own UNIX. We will continue to stand up and correct such misstatements when we find them. . .
    SCO can't have sold to UnXis what it doesn't own.

  • Here's what they have on their website:
    The Open Group holds the definition of what a UNIX system is and its associated trademark in trust for the industry.

    In 1994 Novell (who had acquired the UNIX systems business of AT&T/USL) decided to get out of that business. Rather than sell the business as a single entity, Novell transferred the rights to the UNIX trademark and the specification (that subsequently became the Single UNIX Specification) to The Open Group (at the time X/Open Company). Subsequently, it sold the source code and the product implementation (UNIXWARE) to SCO. The Open Group also owns the trademark UNIXWARE, transferred to them from SCO more recently.

  • Novell told the appeals court, when Gray tried to get permission to file an amicus brief, which was denied, that the transfer of the UNIX trademark to X/Open was more than a two-step process:
    The UNIX trademarks in question were transferred from Novell to X/Open by way of a 1993 term sheet between Novell, X/Open, Digital, HP, IBM, and Sun; a 1994 licensing agreement between Novell and X/Open; a 1996 confirmation agreement between Novell, SCO, and X/Open; and 1998 deed of assignment between Novell and X/Open. None of those agreements, nor any of the surrounding evidence, was presented to the Utah district court, as none had any relevance to the issues in dispute at the district court or on this appeal.
    Like I said, it wasn't part of the SCO v. Novell trial, but the UNIX and UnixWare trademarks clearly don't belong to unXis, no matter what they say in a press release. And I'd opine that if they were serious about going into the UNIX business, they wouldn't make a mistake like this. But that's just my best guess. But wouldn't you think, if they were serious about investing in Unix to the tune of millions, they'd do their due diligence and find out what they are buying?

    I'd say unXis is making a rather awkward entrance on to the world's stage. Another way to look at it would be that they are living up to their SCO heritage.

    Update: I have learned from a couple of readers who contacted the X/Open Group that what unXis got, or more exactly will be getting, was a license, the same license that SCO had, to use the UNIX marks. I am informed as well that X/Open replied to one such inquiry regarding this press release: "In the meantime, we are requesting UnXis to clarify and correct its press release that misstates the matter of trademark ownership."


  


UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh? - Updated | 349 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
[CORRECT] Corrections thread
Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:06 PM EDT
Place article corrections here.

---
There is nothing unknowable—only that which is yet to be known. —The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)

[ Reply to This | # ]

[NP] News Picks threads
Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:07 PM EDT
Talk about News Picks here. Remember to say which one you're commenting on.

---
There is nothing unknowable—only that which is yet to be known. —The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)

[ Reply to This | # ]

[OT] Off Topic threads
Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:08 PM EDT
Comment other than topically here.

---
There is nothing unknowable—only that which is yet to be known. —The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)

[ Reply to This | # ]

[COMES] Comes v. MS docs
Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:10 PM EDT
Post transcriptions of Comes v. MS docs here.

---
There is nothing unknowable—only that which is yet to be known. —The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale
Authored by: webster on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:12 PM EDT
From the back of the bus.

Dubai where the truth is a bid until a higher one gushes.

.

[ Reply to This | # ]

That Middle East connection again
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:20 PM EDT
A connection with wealthy interests in the Middle East implies a connection with
wealthy interests in the United States which want that connection to take place,
and, moreover, a conjunction of the wealthy interests in the United States with
the wealthy interests in the Middle East, countenanced and blessed by the United
States government which also wants that connection to take place.

Interesting.

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale
Authored by: Laomedon on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:25 PM EDT
Maybe they mean UNXiS Trademark?

Just kidding.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Countdown to offers of licences in 10... 9...
Authored by: Crocodile_Dundee on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:25 PM EDT
Is this going to be Deja Vu all over again?


---
---
That's not a law suit. *THIS* is a law suit!

[ Reply to This | # ]

Furlough maybe, not retirement
Authored by: Tolerance on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:28 PM EDT
Hm. "UnXis doesn't want Groklaw to retire?" Of course they do.
They're not going to sue someone again till Groklaw's not around.

Of course after a couple of years' rest it'll be baaaack ...



---
Grumpy old man

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale
Authored by: tknarr on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 08:57 PM EDT

I think the proper response to the trademark claim is a comment from The Open Group: "Just because someone sold you the Brooklyn Bridge, doesn't mean you own the Brooklyn Bridge. And SCO owns neither the Brooklyn Bridge nor the Unix trademark, so their "sale" of the one's as solid as their "sale" of the other.".

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale
Authored by: MrCharon on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 09:17 PM EDT
They updated there website too. The FAQ tosses around the
term UNIX left and right.

http://www.unxisco.com/faqs/



---
MrCharon
~~~~

[ Reply to This | # ]

What? They forgot what they told Wayne Gray?
Authored by: cpeterson on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 09:26 PM EDT
Or have the facts taken a metamorphosis since the last time they had to talk about trademarks?

[ Reply to This | # ]

Hey PJ!!!
Authored by: JamesK on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 09:31 PM EDT
"has been successfully completed with the transfer of the entire Unix
operating systems"

Perhaps you're a bit premature with the Groklaw retirement.

---
IANALAIDPOOTV

(I am not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV)

[ Reply to This | # ]

A Trademark that UnXis DID Purchase ...
Authored by: sk43 on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 09:46 PM EDT
It is on page 60 of the APA [SCOBK-1216-1]:

OPENLINUX - EUROPEAN UNION - REGISTERED - 1335322

Whoo -hoo!

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh?
Authored by: PM on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 10:02 PM EDT
It is rather like buying the Golden Gate Bridge off a huckster then arguing
against the "Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District"
in court that since you paid millions for it, surely you had to get somthing for
your money.

[ Reply to This | # ]

unxis is confusingly similar to unix
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 10:13 PM EDT
Maybe X/Open should file a declaratory relief action seeking
a judicial declaration that (1) UnXis is confusingly similar
to the UNIX trademark and cannot be used in the computer
software and services class, and (2) that X/Open is the sole
owner of the UNIX and Unixware trademarks.

This will beat UnXis to the court house and tie up UnXis
world-class management, sales, and support team. What goes
around comes around.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Also 2006+ SCO SEC filings
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 10:14 PM EDT
After about 2006 SCO straightened out its ways and credited the OpenGroup with
the Unix(R) trademarks.

March 8, 2006 press release
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1102542/000110465906015021/a06-6533_1ex99
d1.htm

"SCO and the associated SCO logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
The SCO Group, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. UNIX is a registered
trademark of The Open Group. All other brand or product names are or may be
trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their
respective owners."


2005 press release, without the (R) on UNIX and without credit to the OpenGroup
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1102542/000110465905016295/a05-6691_1ex99
d1.htm

[ Reply to This | # ]

SCO can't have sold to UnXis what it doesn't own.
Authored by: cbc on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 10:47 PM EDT
There is plenty of evidence that reality and SCOG are strangers. Maybe it is
the water in the Great Salt Lake basin. It comes in there but it can't get out.
Sort of like a black hole.

[ Reply to This | # ]

  • The judge? - Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 09:28 AM EDT
UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh?
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 10:49 PM EDT
This is Hilarious

Please Groklaw must exist to see UnXis bankruptcy too!

On a serious note, you should perhaps extend Groklaws life to
see this outcome, not so much for the fact that they could
ever win on any such claim but for the hilarious notions that
will surely come out of future statements & actions they may
take.

[ Reply to This | # ]

NEWS UPDATE!!!
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 10:56 PM EDT
Con men sell to other con men who can't tell the difference of how they were
conned and how they will con others...

[ Reply to This | # ]

Lordy lordy here we go again !!!
Authored by: dmarker on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 11:24 PM EDT

That kind of press release is more than incompetent.

It is bluntly dishonest.

DSM

[ Reply to This | # ]

Selling their investment short
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, April 11 2011 @ 11:31 PM EDT
No, not in a "short sale" context-

From the press release:
"doubling resources in engineering, technical support and customer
relationship management"

I'm sure they could just as accurately say they're tripling (or even dectupling)
their engineering staff. 2, 3, or even a million times 0 is still zero.

Did SCO have any engineering or technical support staff left?

I mean if they're going to brag about what they didn't buy, shouldn't they abuse
math in the same press release?

--Jpvlsmv (not logged in)

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 12:39 AM EDT
Maybe SCO trademark(ed) the process they spent years developing - the best ways
to stretch out a lawsuit as long as you can, ensuring the people who you're
supposed to pay based on your original contract never get a thing. Could it be
this process, re-branded as "SCO Intellectual Property" what they
really sold?



[ Reply to This | # ]

Will Novell roll over again?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 12:54 AM EDT

They didn't appeal the auction, will they contest this?

Or do they prefer to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

[ Reply to This | # ]

Stephen Norris?
Authored by: Ian Al on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:21 AM EDT
Wasn't that the guy of whom Judge Gross once said 'You can not be serious!'.

I recommend, very strongly, that Steve does plenty of business with members of
the Saudi Royal family and the government departments they run.

He might want to think again, however, about suing his customers.

---
Regards
Ian Al
Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning to the end. But it is,
perhaps, the end of the beginning. - Winston Churchill

[ Reply to This | # ]

What about the UNIX license revenue?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:54 AM EDT
Does this mean that Unxis will be collecting the ongoing UNIX license revenues,
passing 100% to Novell (or Attachmate), who will remit a 5% admin fee back to
Unxis?

Or did I miss something crucial?

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 05:43 AM EDT
Keep in mind that SCO does have the right to use the UNIX and UNIXWARE
trademarks, just not ownership or exclusive rights. Though it may have an
exclusive license to use the UNIXWARE mark...

[ Reply to This | # ]

Unctuous and Brooklynbridge
Authored by: DaveJakeman on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 05:58 AM EDT
Aside from the ridiculous trademark claims, the press release makes software and
technology vapourware claims, rather than litigation claims. So at least the
new entity is emitting better vapours, but in the true SCO tradition, it really
does need to get its facts right.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Staff and customers
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 06:41 AM EDT
We are delighted to announce that the entire staff of The SCO Group has accepted employment with unXis, Inc, and I thank them for their enthusiastic backing as well as SCO customers for their support.
If they have no staff and no customers, I think that's technically true.
SCO can't have sold to UnXis what it doesn't own.
Why not? Isn't spending what they don't have a precedent?

\Cyp

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 06:50 AM EDT
I haven't had all my coffee yet, but ...

1) M$ buying laws that make it a crime for U.S. businesses
to do business with off-shore businesses using illegal software.
2) Large off-shore multinational aquiring UNIX rights.
3) Speculation: More claims that Linux violates UNIX rights.
4) Speculation: Large off-shore multinational invests
heavily in companies holding Novell patents via licensing
or outright purchase.
5) Conclusion: All U.S. businesses barred from doing
business with other businesses that use Linux because Linux
is declared as illegal software.

I'm sure that I missed something here.

[ Reply to This | # ]

The domain is owned by The SCO Group
Authored by: solbu on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 07:17 AM EDT
I got qurious and investigated a little and just ran a whois search on unxisco.com, and this was the result:
Registrant:
    The SCO Group
    333 S 520 W
    Suite 170
    Lindon, UT 84042
    US

    Registrar: DOTSTER
    Domain Name: UNXISCO.COM
        Created on: 08-APR-11
        Expires on: 08-APR-12
        Last Updated on: 08-APR-11

    Administrative, Technical Contact:
        Administrator, Domain domain.admin@sco.com
        The SCO Group
        333 S 520 W
        Suite 170
        Lindon, UT 84042
        US
        801-765-4999


    Domain servers in listed order:
        A.NS.UNXISCO.COM
        B.NS.UNXISCO.COM
        E.NS.UNXISCO.COM

End of Whois Information

---
Solbu
My posts/articles are licensed under a Creative Commons License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
PGP/GnuPG key: 0xFA687324

[ Reply to This | # ]

My favorite part of the press release...
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 07:49 AM EDT
The company is making an enormous investment in talent with some key strategic hires as well as doubling resources in engineering, technical support and customer relationship management.
So they're hiring one new person?

[ Reply to This | # ]

I liked this part:
Authored by: Sunny Penguin on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 08:50 AM EDT
"UnXis, Inc. announced today that the purchase of The SCO Group, Inc.
operating assets and intellectual property rights has been successfully
completed with the transfer of the entire Unix operating systems and software
solutions and employees of The SCO Group"


Just how many employees were transferred?
Was it more employees or UNIX manuals that were transferred?

---
/FL

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 10:27 AM EDT
Has anyone else noticed that the www.unxisco.com website has a link to something
called "FAQ's"? It's always nice to see that apostrophe abuse is alive
and well on teh intarwebs. It make's me so happy to see that SCO is as
professional as ever.

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis is Drinking the SCO Group Koolaid!
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 11:08 AM EDT
For over 30 years this remarkable company culture has persevered to produce
great technology and great value for customers, and it will continue to excel
with the resources and vision provided by the Unxis leadership team.

--------------------------------------
The company assets they bought are not SCO, They are The SCO Group(Caldera).
The company has not existed for 30 years. I guess the beat goes on.

[ Reply to This | # ]

UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 11:36 AM EDT
Did anyone note the resemblance of UnXis to...

[ Reply to This | # ]

SCO Redux & PJ's Retirement
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 12:02 PM EDT
Now I understand why PJ has decided to discontinue writing "new" articles for Groklaw.

It all makes sense: Now that SCO for all ends and purposes is history, and the new kid in Utahwn is unXis, PJ can go on autopilot, move to a cottage by the lake, sip margaritas all day and catch up on Scratch programming as a hobby, she'll leave a small server running to re-post everyone of SCO's stories from 2003 on and just replacing the word "UnXis" for every iteration of the word "SCO" as the same history repeats itself ad nauseam, so no need for PJ to waste her valuable time writing over stuff that's been discussed before.

Way to go, PJ!! I admire your common sense.

And, for the rest of us, I suggest picking up a hobby of your preference to fill in those spare hours previously devoted to SCOnonsense.

FUDbar (not currently logged-in)

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Does "retained" mean the same as "acquired"?
Authored by: Laomedon on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 12:04 PM EDT
UnXis states it, among other things, "has retained [..] the UNIX and
UNIXWARE trademarks."

Maybe it's just poorly worded, can you say ambiguously?

Could that mean they retained [whatever rights that had to use] the UNIX and
UNIXWARE trademarks?

I don't know. Precise wording does not appear to be SCO's strong point.

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Misleading PR
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 12:18 PM EDT
Funny how in the press release they claim "UnXis has retained all customer contracts, the UNIX and UNIXWARE trademarks..." (emphasis mine) while on their website a similar press release merely reads "UnXis retains all customer contracts, the rights to the UNIX and UNIXWARE trademarks" (http://www.unxisco.com/2011/04/11/unxis-completes-purchase- of-sco-unix-assets ), which is totally something else.

Hmm, I wonder if they're trying the same tactics that their predecessor used conspicuously all along, FUD some over here while appearing something entirely different over there.

Not a good start at all.
---

FUDbar (not logged in now)

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"Let me guess. UnXis doesn't want Groklaw to retire?"
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 12:48 PM EDT
"Let me guess. UnXis doesn't want Groklaw to retire?"

Correct. They need to get another 10 years out of you.

As an unrelated side note: You can raise a kid, conception to
full college degree in the time it takes to sue a pro Linux
company... Further proof our justice system needs some
adjustments.

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Have UnXis been duped?
Authored by: lunarship on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:57 PM EDT
They mention they have bought "the rights to UNIX and UNIXWARE"
trademarks... did SCO merely say "we'll sell you the same rights we
have?"

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On thinking this over ...
Authored by: dmarker on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 05:38 PM EDT

UnXis appear to be treading dangerous grounds. If they try to sell products they
don't own (Unix Sysx) and make claims that are untrue (re licenses and
copyrights), they leave themselves open to litigation.

Novell and others could be in a position to meaningfully go after UnXis if they
are regarded or proven to be a slight-of-hand reincarnation of tSCOg.

UnXis don't have the bottomless pit of funding paying for BS&F lawyering
(unless Microsoft find another way & reason to set this up for them, but
that seems highly doubtful. MS got caught out last time).

I doubt that going off shore to chase Linux is viable. IT would be so much
harder to have an impact outside the US.

Novell may have figured out that UnXis is a far easier target to hit that the
slippery-as-an-eel tSCOg who had BS&F to help/advise them on how to slither
away when the gaming was up.

DSM

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UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh?
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 06:16 PM EDT

In order to use the UNIX trademark, UnXis products must pass X/OPEN (aka The
Open Group) certification - there might be a chance that it could be withheld
;)

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"Vast opportunities within the IT sector"
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 07:24 PM EDT
Translation:
The beauty of acquiring SCO is that they have aggressively shed customers and
partners until they have none of the usual burdens of real contracts and
business. This means we will be able to revive and escalate the failed
SCOSource licensing business and send a new round of extortion letters without
worrying about copyrights, counterclaims, truth or other such distractions that
sank SCO. With a highly focused approach we anticipate pressuring underfunded
start-ups and other vulnerable targets to reap a windfall, while our new
offshore location will complicate and dampen possible legal challenges.

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Why does Monty Python Come to Mind
Authored by: AH1 on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 08:22 PM EDT
As soon as I read this article, for some reason the "Bring out your
Dead" scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail movie came to mind. Somehow the
analogy between the two fits.

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  • I'm not dead.... - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 05:12 PM EDT
UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh? - Updated
Authored by: iraskygazer on Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 01:24 PM EDT
Yes PJ, another SCO or at least a wishful clone;-)
Do you think your announced departure from the sceen was made too early? Or,
maybe somebody enjoys pulling your trigger with the kind of statements being
published by Unixis.
Even the company name seems to be intended to confuse the general public.
Something like MS did with the 'Office Open' standard.

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UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh? - Updated
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, April 14 2011 @ 04:08 PM EDT
From Linux Pops: Sorry, guess they read you were going to be
stopping the column. And we all hoped this mess would just
go away!!!!

Good Luck.

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UnXis Claims It Got the UNIX and UnixWare Trademarks in Sale of SCO Assets - Huh? - Updated
Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, April 17 2011 @ 10:20 PM EDT
@PJ

I wouldn't cancel my plans, they would be fools to try anything now after eight
years of no case results with SCO litigation. And, seeing where Linux is today
and was eight years ago, I can guess that the community is better prepared with
many thanks to you !

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