Court slashes damages SAP due to pay Oracle
A US court ruling said SAP should pay just $272m of $1.3bn damages to Oracle
SOFTWARE GIANT SAP is “gratified” by a recent court ruling to slash damages it must pay to rival Oracle.
It was decided in court last November that SAP would pay $1.3bn (£800m) in damages to Oracle, Accountancy Age’s sister publication Computing reports.
The damages were awarded for copyright infringement, following Oracle’s claim that SAP’s TomorrowNow software-maintenance unit had illegally downloaded and copied its own software, meaning SAP’s customers were able to avoid paying license fees for the services.
Following an 11-day trial, a decision was made yesterday by US district judge Phyllis Hamilton, to reduce the original amount from $1.3bn to $272m.
Hamilton said the original sum was “grossly excessive” and that SAP should get a new trial for damages if Oracle rejected her ruling.
SAP issued the following statement on the matter: “We are very gratified with the court’s decision. We agree with the court’s statement that ‘the verdict grossly exceeded the actual harm to Oracle.
“We believed the jury’s verdict was wrong and are pleased with the significant reduction in damages. We hope the court’s action will help drive this matter to a final resolution.”