Oracle Seeking New Damages Trial In Lawsuit Against SAP

Oracle has rejected a proposed $272 million settlement in its long-running copyright infringement lawsuit against rival SAP and is seeking a new trial in the case.

In a two-page brief filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Oracle said it "has no choice but to elect a new trial" and reject the $272 million "remittitur" or settlement proposed by the judge in the case.

No date for a new trial has been set.

“We are disappointed that Oracle has passed up yet another opportunity to resolve this case," SAP said in a statement. "We will continue to work to bring this case to a fair and reasonable end.”

The case reaches back to 2005 when SAP acquired TomorrowNow, which provided support services for Oracle applications. TomorrowNow, which SAP shut down in 2008, downloaded copyrighted software and documents from Oracle support Web sites. Oracle sued in 2007. SAP has admitted liability in the case, but has argued that the billions in damages Oracle has sought are excessive.

In a three-week trial in November 2010 Oracle argued that TomorrowNow's actions had cost it as much as $4 billion in lost software sales, among other damages. The jury returned with a verdict that SAP owed Oracle $1.3 billion.

SAP later appealed the judgment and in September 2011 Judge Phyllis Hamilton reduced the damages to $272 million. Hamilton has given Oracle the option of accepting that amount, negotiating a settlement with SAP, or request a new trial to argue its case that the damages are greater than $272 million.

In Monday's filing Oracle said it was concerned that by accepting the $272 million remittitur, it risks waiving its right to appeal for a new trial. "Oracle's objective is to obtain clarification of the law and, if it is right about what the law is and what the evidence supports in this case, to vindicate the verdict of the jury and Oracle's intellectual property rights as a copyright owner," it said in the filing.