OAKLAND, Calif. — Oracle Corp. chief executive Larry Ellison turned up the pressure in an industrial-espionage trial Monday by testifying that archenemy SAP AG should have paid $4 billion for licenses to Oracle software.
SAP and Oracle, two of the world’s biggest business-software makers, are fighting over how much SAP should pay to atone for the shady tactics of a now-shuttered software-support subsidiary called TomorrowNow.
SAP already has admitted that TomorrowNow stole customer-support documents from Oracle password-protected websites and used them to steal business from Oracle by offering similar services at a cheaper price.
Oracle has said that it is owed billions for the value of the intellectual property that was taken from it. Ellison’s $4 billion estimate concerned the amount of money SAP would have paid for the appropriate licenses to Oracle’s software, under certain conditions.
SAP claims TomorrowNow wasn’t that effective at stealing customers and that it should only have to pay $40 million for Oracle accounts it did manage to lure away.
The trial, in its second week in federal court, offers a rare look at the corners big companies might be tempted to cut in the battle for new business.
It also is as much a public-relations bonanza for Oracle as it is an attempt to recover damages because Oracle gets to pillory two rivals at once: SAP and Hewlett-Packard.
The conflict with SAP has grown as Oracle has moved beyond its core business of selling database software and into SAP’s stronghold of applications that help companies manage payroll, human resources and other tasks.
The beef with HP stems from Oracle’s decision to start selling computer servers, an HP mainstay.
