Judge Overturns $1.3 Billion Penalty Against SAP
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal judge has overturned a $1.3 billion verdict against business software maker SAP, calling it "grossly excessive."
The ruling Thursday is a major victory for SAP AG and an unexpected setback for Oracle Corp., which filed the case.
Oracle's outspoken CEO Larry Ellison had used evidence that an SAP subsidiary had stolen software and customer-support documents from password-protected Oracle websites as a platform to slam his longtime nemesis.
Judge Phyllis Hamilton in in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., the site of the three-week trial, says the penalty was "contrary to the weight of the evidence" in the high-profile case.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
