IBM secures payment for Novell patent

Novell has agreed to pay IBM an undisclosed sum as part of Big Blue's bid to reclaim funds for the use of its intellectual property.

The patent in question appears in WordPerfect, which Novell sold to Corel in 1996. Novell has signed a patent cross-licensing agreement with IBM, which also accounts for the networking company's past use of the patent.

IBM insisted that it does not have a similar agreement for the patent with Corel. Novell is the latest in a long line of companies which IBM has hunted down to sign intellectual property agreements. So far this year, IBM has won 52 deals.

Marshall Phelps, IBM's vice president of intellectual property and licensing, said: 'We believe recognition of intellectual property rights as they apply to hardware and software products is significant, as IBM seeks to protect its patented inventions and receive consideration when others use them.'

US reports said IBM was executing a plan to lose jobs in North America without offering the voluntary option.

The redundancies come as the merger of the AS/400 and RS/6000 becomes more complete, with IBM US seeking to cut costs as it moves further into the x86 server market.