Seeking to limit its damages and avoid a bitter legal fight, software developer SAP announced July 5 that it wont fight claims that a subsidiary stole intellectual property from rival Oracle in a case of corporate espionage.
SAP said, however, that it still planned to present evidence that Oracles request for $1 billion for suffering is vastly overstated. In a legal filing, SAP suggested the damages should instead be in the range of tens of millions of dollars.
The case involves two of the worlds most powerful business software firms and dates back to 2007, when Oracle sued SAP, accusing it of knowingly allowing TomorrowNow, its subsidiary, to illegally download Oracles software for its customers.
SAP said in its announcement that its acknowledgement represents the companys efforts to resolve the affair and would accept financial responsibility for any judgment awarded against TomorrowNow, despite the fact that SAP was not involved in TomorrowNows service operations and did not engage in any of the copying or downloading alleged in Oracle's complaint.
A trial is set to begin in November.
