OMEN
01-02-2011, 01:50 PM
IDG News Service - SAP is fighting back against Oracle's demand it fork over $212 million in interest on top of a $1.3 billlion sum a jury awarded Oracle last month in its corporate-theft suit against the German software vendor, according to a court filing last week.
Oracle sued SAP in 2007 over illegal downloads the company's former subsidiary, TomorrowNow, made in the course of delivering reduced-price service to Oracle software customers. SAP has accepted liability for TomorrowNow's actions, but called the award's size unreasonable and so far, hasn't ruled out an appeal.
The judgment was based on "hypothetical" fees that SAP would have had to pay if it licensed Oracle's software legally. Oracle wants interest on the $1.3 billion dating as far back as Jan. 2005.
"The jury's award, if it stands, more than adequately accomplishes the goals of the Copyright Act, as it at least fully compensates, and, really, overcompensates Oracle (particularly considering that by receiving its money today, Oracle completely avoided the economic collapse of 2007," SAP's Dec. 23 filing in US District Court for the Northern District of California states.
SAP's filing also took issue with the calculation method used by Oracle's expert witness to determine the interest amount.
"If the Court were to choose to award interest ... it should, like so many other courts, follow 28 U.S.C. § 1961 and award interest at a flat rate equal to the weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield (which is currently .30%), compounded annually."
By this method, Oracle's pre-judgment interest on the $1.3 billion dating back to Jan. 19, 2005 -- the day SAP announced it had bought TomorrowNow --would amount only to about $22.7 million through Dec. 23, according to SAP.
An Oracle spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Oracle sued SAP in 2007 over illegal downloads the company's former subsidiary, TomorrowNow, made in the course of delivering reduced-price service to Oracle software customers. SAP has accepted liability for TomorrowNow's actions, but called the award's size unreasonable and so far, hasn't ruled out an appeal.
The judgment was based on "hypothetical" fees that SAP would have had to pay if it licensed Oracle's software legally. Oracle wants interest on the $1.3 billion dating as far back as Jan. 2005.
"The jury's award, if it stands, more than adequately accomplishes the goals of the Copyright Act, as it at least fully compensates, and, really, overcompensates Oracle (particularly considering that by receiving its money today, Oracle completely avoided the economic collapse of 2007," SAP's Dec. 23 filing in US District Court for the Northern District of California states.
SAP's filing also took issue with the calculation method used by Oracle's expert witness to determine the interest amount.
"If the Court were to choose to award interest ... it should, like so many other courts, follow 28 U.S.C. § 1961 and award interest at a flat rate equal to the weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield (which is currently .30%), compounded annually."
By this method, Oracle's pre-judgment interest on the $1.3 billion dating back to Jan. 19, 2005 -- the day SAP announced it had bought TomorrowNow --would amount only to about $22.7 million through Dec. 23, according to SAP.
An Oracle spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.