Oracle Presses for Bigger Payoff in SAP Suit

February 17, 2012

Oracle is a feisty outfit.

Not satisfied with its slashed settlement, “Oracle Wants New Trial Against SAP After Reduced Verdict,” reports Bloomberg Businessweek. Jurors had awarded the company $1.3 billion for now defunct SAP unit TomorrowNow’s illegal Oracle software downloads; SAP never disputed the charges.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton disagreed with the logic of the jury, which determined the generous amount while contemplating a hypothetical license Oracle might have granted to SAP in a different reality. Writer Karen Gullo reports:

Hamilton said there was no evidence that Oracle had ever granted a license that would permit a competitor to use its software to compete for Oracle customers. Oracle can’t recover lost license fees because, without such evidence, any award would be subjective and speculative and not based on objective evidence, she said.

Good point.

Oracle’s pursuit of a new trial suggests that Oracle will keep on with legal proceedings regardless of the outcomes. What does this mean for the Oracle vs Google trial? Our prediction: big paydays for lawyers.

If I were a Google attorney (which I am most assuredly not), I would tuck away the notion that Oracle just keeps suing and suing and suing, just like an Energizer Bunny with a law degree.

Cynthia Murrell, February 17, 2012

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.