Oracle and SAP settle copyright spat

California-based computer technology company Oracle and its German rival SAP have settled a software copyright dispute between them, with Oracle accepting $359 million from SAP.

The two companies have been fighting since 2007, when Oracle sued SAP, alleging that SAP’s TomorrowNow unit illegally downloaded Oracle software. SAP shut down the business and admitted liability before Oracle was awarded $1.3 billion by a jury in 2010.

However, that figure has been reduced since and, earlier this year, a federal appeals court ruled that Oracle could either accept $356.7 million or opt for a retrial.

Now, according to a filing yesterday (November 13), Oracle has decided to take the lesser amount authorised by the Ninth Circuit plus interest, after the court refused to reinstate the $1.3 billion the jury had awarded in the case.

After the filing, both Oracle and SAP said they were happy with the settlement.

“We are thrilled about this landmark recovery and extremely gratified that our efforts to protect innovation and our shareholders’ interests are duly rewarded,” said Dorian Daley, Oracle’s general counsel. “This sends a strong message to those who would prefer to cheat than compete fairly and legally,” he added.

“We are also pleased that, overall, the courts hearing this case ultimately accepted SAP’s arguments to limit Oracle’s excessive damages claims and that Oracle has finally chosen to end this matter,” said Saswato Das, a spokesman for SAP.