The SCO Group of Lindon has lost another round in its court battle with Novell Inc.

U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart handed down decisions on Thursday in which he refused to back SCO's claims against Novell in a dispute over ownership of computer software copyrights.

Coming just two months after a jury verdict that also favored Novell -- and with The SCO Group struggling to reorganize in bankruptcy court -- the decisions amount to another serious blow in a series of events that have threatened the company's survival.

In essence, Stewart declined to turn over copyrights of the Unix computer operating system to SCO after the jury found that Novell retained them in a 1995 sales agreement.

"Evidently, the jury found Novell's version of facts to be more persuasive," Stewart said. "This conclusion is well supported by the evidence."

The dispute began when SCO sued IBM in 2003. It said IBM had used Unix code owned by SCO as the basis for improvements that made the Linux operating system a competitor in the market for software that operates companies' computer systems. SCO sued Novell the next year after Novell said it still owned the Unix copyrights and SCO's claims were improper.

With his ruling, Stewart closed the case. Novell officials were elated.

"We're very pleased that Judge Stewart's rulings reaffirm the jury's earlier decision that Novell rightfully owns Unix copyrights," said Ian Bruce, the company's chief

spokesman. "This is a very important decision for Linux and for open-source software."

SCO declinedto comment immediately. It could appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that already has ruled once in its favor.

Stewart's decisions were on issues left up to him after the three-week trial and on SCO's motion for a new trial. SCO asked Stewart to order the transfer ofcopyrights to it. It argued that it had operated for years on the assumption it owned the Unix rights and that there was overwhelming evidence to support its ownership.

Stewart cited testimony from Novell witnesses who said the intent of the sales agreement was that Novell retain the copyrights while selling the Unix business.

"The court finds the witnesses presented by SCO on the parties' intent to be less credible than Novell's ...," Stewart wrote.

The decisions add more uncertainty about SCO's future. It filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007, and has yet to have a reorganization plan approved.

tharvey@sltrib.com