Oracle sues payment software company Procore over trade secrets

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Software giant Oracle (ORCL.N) has sued construction industry software company Procore Technologies (PCOR.N) in California federal court, accusing Procore of stealing confidential information to build up its business.

Oracle's lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleged that its former employee Mark Mariano took "thousands" of trade secrets to his new job at Procore, which enabled the company to launch a rival software platform for construction payment management.

Spokespeople for Procore and attorneys and spokespeople for Oracle did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the complaint on Monday. Mariano could not be reached for comment.

Austin, Texas-based Oracle said that Mariano previously worked for Textura Payment Management, a construction invoice and payment services provider that Oracle acquired in 2016. The lawsuit said that Mariano led Oracle's team focusing on integrating other companies' software with Oracle's payment management software.

Carpinteria, California-based Procore hired Mariano away from Oracle in 2021, according to the complaint. Oracle said that Mariano took thousands of its files to Procore including source code, customer information and research plans that allowed the "struggling" company to transform its business.

"Shortly after Mariano joined Procore with Oracle's trade secret documents in hand, Procore finally announced the launch of its own competing platform" and "quickly released integrations like those that Oracle had previously released while Mariano was working on those technologies."

Oracle requested an unspecified amount of monetary damages and a court order blocking Procore from misusing its trade secrets.

The case is Oracle America Inc v. Procore Technologies Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:24-cv-07457.