Zombie 'who owns Unix?' lawsuit comes alive again
A long-dormant legal dispute over the ownership of Unix has been revived. The lawsuit, which involves claims over the Unix copyrights, has been brought back to court, reigniting a decades-old battle over the rights to the foundational operating system.
Background
- Unix was originally developed at Bell Labs (AT&T) in the 1970s. Over decades, its ownership passed through several companies via acquisitions, and the rights to the Unix trademark and source code have been disputed for nearly 30 years.
- The key parties: **The Open Group** (owns the official Unix trademark and certification standard); **Xinuos** (a small company that bought some old Unix assets from Novell); and **IBM** (which sells AIX, its own Unix-based OS).
- In 2022, Xinuos sued IBM for allegedly using Unix code illegally in AIX and violating antitrust law. IBM has largely won the case so far via motions to dismiss.
- The current development: Xinuos has filed an amended complaint, re-alleging that IBM (along with other targets like Red Hat) misappropriated Unix code and trade secrets. The case was thought dead; this amendment could revive it.
- Why it matters: The suit touches on a foundational piece of software history, and the outcome could affect licensing terms or ownership claims over code still used in enterprise operating systems today.