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Software theft, SAP to pay $1.3 Billion to Oracle
By siliconindia
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Wednesday, 24 November 2010, 22:09 IST |
1 Comments
Bangalore: Oracle won a $1.3 billion jury verdict against SAP, the world's largest maker business software, in a copyright infringement lawsuit. A federal jury has decided that SAP must pay Oracle Corp $1.3 billion in damages for software theft. The verdict drew a gasp from a packed courtroom and prompted hugs and handshakes among Oracle's legal team. Oracle sought at least $1.65 billion in damages, while Germany's SAP pegged its exposure at a maximum of $40 million.
The two companies, which dominate the global market for software that helps businesses run more efficiently, this month began slugging it out in U.S. district court in Oakland, California, to determine the amount of damages.
The three-week trial featured testimony from such top executives as Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison and President Safra Catz. SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott also took the stand and apologized to Oracle.
The jury passed the verdict based on the evidence showed that SAP's U.S.-based business unit made hundreds of thousands of illegal downloads and several thousand copies of Oracle's software. Europe's top software maker had previously accepted liability for wrongfully downloaded millions of Oracle's files.
