Microsoft Corp. and three computer manufacturers won't have to face a claim they conspired to maintain a monopoly, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to revive an antitrust suit against them.
The court turned down an appeal by the bankruptcy trustee for Gravity Inc., a Texas software company. A lower court dismissed Gravity's claim that Microsoft, the world's largest software company, conspired with Hewlett-Packard Co. unit Compaq Computer, Dell Computer Corp. and NEC Corp. unit PB Electronics to maintain its monopoly on the Windows operating systems software.
Gravity said the computer makers signed anticompetitive licensing agreements with Microsoft. The suit was among dozens filed against Microsoft after a U.S. appellate court ruled in 2000 that the company illegally defended its Windows monopoly. Gravity's suit was the only one that accused computer makers of conspiring with Microsoft, the software maker's lawyers said in court papers.
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