SAP to pay Oracle $1.3 bn in landmark decision

OAKLAND, USA: SAP AG must pay Oracle Corp $1.3 billion for software theft, a jury decided, awarding damages that could be the largest-ever for copyright infringement.

The decision, by a U.S. district court jury in Oakland California, drew a gasp from the courtroom and prompted hugs and handshakes among Oracle's legal team, which has pursued their case for years.

Oracle's shares rose 1.5 percent in after-hours trade, while those of SAP slipped 1.4 percent.

SAP, Europe's top software maker, said it was disappointed by the verdict and might appeal.

"We are, of course, disappointed by this verdict and will pursue all available options, including post-trial motions and appeal if necessary," SAP said in a statement in response to the verdict.

Attorneys for Oracle called the verdict the largest ever for a copyright infringement case.

While SAP could appeal, Oracle attorney David Boies said, that would raise the possibility of a retrial. "If I were SAP, and I'm not, but if I were SAP, I'm not sure I would want to have another trial," Boies said.

SAP says $40 mn at most

At the outset of the trial, the German company acknowledged that its TomorrowNow subsidiary had wrongfully downloaded millions of Oracle's files.

With the admission of liability, the issue before the jury was how much Oracle was owed in damages. SAP said no more $40 million, while Oracle at least $1.65 billion.

"The mark of a leading company is the way it handles its mistakes. As stated in court, we regret the actions of TN, we have accepted liability, and have been willing to fairly compensate Oracle," SAP said after the verdict was announced.

"Home run!" Eric Goldman, an associate professor at the Santa Clara University School of Law, wrote in an email. He expected SAP to appeal what he called one of the 10 or 20 largest jury verdicts in U.S. legal history.

"I would expect there to be lots more shenanigans. but now SAP is truly on the run. They have to climb an even steeper mountain."

The three-week trial featured testimony from such top executives as Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison -- whom SAP's lawyers accused of plucking damages numbers "out of the air" -- and President Safra Catz. SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott also took the stand and apologized to Oracle for the events surrounding TomorrowNow.

No Apotheker

Testimony in the trial, which captivated Silicon Valley, wrapped up last week without a hoped-for appearance by former SAP chief and current Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker.

During the trial, Oracle linked Apotheker to the operations of TomorrowNow. But it did not appear to produce evidence to prove he knew of the theft.

Ellison has publicly charged Apotheker with overseeing an "industrial espionage scheme" to steal Oracle software. But both SAP and HP characterized the Apotheker issue as a sideshow and said Oracle offered no proof to back up its allegations.

The U.S. government is also conducting a criminal investigation into the events surrounding TomorrowNow but has not disclosed details. SAP said it has been cooperating with Department of Justice investigators.

"They didn't split the baby did they? It's a big number and they decided fast," said Patrick Walravens at JMP Securities. "If you step back, I think it would've been difficult for any jury to deal with the fact that one company broke into another company's computer systems and just took so much stuff."

"The jury had a choice of either using the fair market value of the license, or using a loss-profit calculation, and the fair market valuation tended to lead you to larger numbers, so that's obviously the direction they decided to go."

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Oracle USA, Inc., et al. v. SAP AG, et al, 07-1658.