Cloud Computing: SAP to Pay Oracle at Least $306 Million in Damages

Grazed from Sys Con Media. Author: Maureen O’Gara.

Oracle has managed to squeeze a few more bucks out of SAP for its admitted copyright infringement a few years ago.

Oracle won a handsome $1.3 billion from a jury in 2010, but the judge thought that was over the top and cut it down to $272 million. Instead Oracle opted for a new trial, which was scheduled to start August 27.

However, last Thursday – "to save the time and expense of this new trial" – the pair came to a settlement agreement that guarantees Oracle $306 million in damages plus attorneys’ fees or at least $426 million while it goes off and appeals to try to get the whole $1.3 billion…

The deal would have to be approved by the federal judge who cut the award.

SAP doesn’t have to pay anything until after all appeals or new trials are over. If Oracle ultimately wins less than $306 million, SAP is supposed to make up the difference.

SAP said it "believes this case has gone on long enough. Although we believe that $306 million is more than the appropriate damages amount, we agreed to this in an effort to bring this case to a reasonable resolution."

Oracle nailed great rival when SAP’s now-defunct TomorrowNow third-party maintenance subsidiary illegally hacked Oracle’s computers and downloaded scads of Oracle IP. SAP acknowledged the theft right before the 2010 trial hoping to contain the damages and plead guilty to criminal charges brought by the Justice Department.

It has already paid Oracle $120 million to cover its legal fees.

SAP has $277 million set aside for the damages.