Oracle-SAP Trial Opens: How Grave was the Damage Done to Oracle?
The case against SAP has begun, going to trial this week. Though SAP reluctantly admitted that it has infringed Oracle’s copyrights, the dispute between the two software giants has just gotten intense, for Oracle demands a $2-billion pay for the damages SAP has caused to their company. SAP counters the demand by settling in the $160-million mark, for figures show that it only stole 358 of the 9,000-10,000 existing customers of Oracle.
Larry Ellison has dragged former SAP CEO and currently HP’s chief executive Leo Apotheker into the eddy of controversy for overseeing the infringement. HP and Oracle used to be partners, but are slowly drifting apart.
According management and organization professor Jo-Ellen Pozner of the University of California, Berkeley, Mr. Ellison is up to staining the images of its competitors. “He’s killing two birds with one stone,” Ms. Pozner said. Though this move will be attracting more future customers.
Bingham McCutchen lawyer Geoffrey Howard representing Oracle argues in court that SAP fears Oracle to the point of stealing their software. SAP Lawyer Robert A. Mittelstaedt of Jones Day refutes that his client admits "that it did something wrong," but the damage to Oracle is nothing major. “They want a windfall,” Mr. Mittelstaedt said. “They want a bonanza that is all out of proportion to the harm.”
Looking back in 2005 when SAP acquired TomorrowNow, a company that provided technical support to some of Oracle’s customers, it has posed potential copyright issues. TomorrowNow eventually downloaded copies of Oracle’s software and distributed them without paying Oracle.
The saga has been an ongoing one, reaching the point of being taken to trial. In recent weeks, Ellison has been riding a high horse leading all the way to the courthouse, dodging SAP’s efforts to gag Oracle, which was indeed a setback for Apotheker’s new seat. SAP saw high earnings during Q3, despite still facing Oracle’s lawsuit.
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