The FSF has released GPLv3 today. It’s a long text compared to its older brother, so it’ll take a while to discern.
Section 11 of the license discusses patents. I specifically like this part:
If…you convey…a covered work, and grant a patent license to some of the parties receiving the covered work…then the patent license you grant is automatically extended to all recipients of the covered work and works based on it.
— GNU General Public License, version 3, section 11
This means that if, or when, Novell upgrades to software licensed under GPLv3, not only Novell’s customers will benefit from the Novell-Microsoft patent agreement, but all who use its software. So, as RMS puts it, “Instead of saying Novell can’t distribute GPLv3 covered programs under their deal, we found a cleverer thing to do with it.”
Groklaw has a more thorough overview on how GPLv3 affects the Novell-Microsoft, in case you’re in the mood for nitpicking.