With cash reserves running out, the SCO Group filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday night.

The filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection was not completely unexpected as SCO's dwindling coffers and mounting legal fees threatened to overwhelm a company now best known for its long-running legal battle with IBM over Linux.

Ultimately, however, it was Novell that pushed the former Unix vendor over the edge.

Last month the US courts ruled against SCO in a finding that said it was Novell, not SCO that owned the Unix copyright and that SCO would have to pay Novell for past licensing deals with Sun Microsystems and Microsoft.

The company was due to appear back in court on Monday for proceedings to evaluate how much it would have to pay Novell, but by filing for bankcruptcy protection, SCO will gain just a little more time.

In its statement on Friday night the company said: "The Board of Directors of The SCO Group unanimously determined that Chapter 11 reorganization is in the best long-term interest of SCO and its subsidiaries, as well as its customers, shareholders, and employees," the statement said.

The company said that it intends to maintain "all normal business operations throughout the bankruptcy proceedings".