Today’s verdict is the largest jury award of 2010, according to Bloomberg data. It is the largest ever for copyright infringement and the 23rd-largest of all time for any jury award, according to Bloomberg data.
The jury awarded the damages after an 11-day trial in Oakland, California. Oracle, the second-biggest maker of business software, sued Walldorf, Germany-based SAP in 2007 claiming its U.S.-based unit made hundreds of thousands of illegal downloads and several thousand copies of Oracle’s software to avoid paying licensing fees and steal customers.
“We are, of course, disappointed by this verdict and will pursue all available options, including post-trial motions and appeal if necessary,” Bill Wohl, an SAP spokesman, said outside the courtroom. “This will unfortunately be a prolonged process and we continue to hope that the matter can be resolved appropriately without more years of litigation.”
Geoffrey Howard, an attorney for Redwood City, California- based Oracle, said before the verdict that the breadth of the illegal downloading was “unprecedented” in the software industry.
SAP To Pay Oracle Billions
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