[Infowarrior] - SAP Ordered to Pay Oracle $1.3 Billion

[Richard Forno]

November 23, 2010
SAP Ordered to Pay Oracle $1.3 Billion

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/24oracle.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

By VERNE G. KOPYTOFF

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal jury on Tuesday awarded Oracle $1.3 billion in damages in its copyright infringement case against rival SAP.

The decision in Federal District Court in Oakland, Calif., was a victory for Oracle, which had asked for $2 billion from SAP for making thousands of copies of its software and manuals as part of an effort to lure away customers.

SAP admitted liability in the case just before the trial began, so the question for the jury was not whether SAP was guilty, but rather how much it should pay.

During the three-week trial, the two sides argued over how much Oracle would have charged SAP to legally license the software and other items it stole. The divide between the two sides was great.

Oracle claimed that a license would have been in the billions of dollars because it would mean handing its secrets to a rival intent on stealing its customers.

SAP said that the damages were closer to $40 million because it had persuaded only a few hundred of Oracle’s customers to defect.