Oracle, SAP settle $410m TomorrowNow lawsuit

Oracle and SAP have settled long-running copyright litigation for US$357 million (A$410 million) over improper downloads of Oracle files, ending a fierce legal battle between the two enterprise software rivals.

The case involved SAP's TomorrowNow unit, which the company bought to provide software support to Oracle customers at lower rates than what Oracle charged, hoping to persuade them to become SAP customers.

Oracle sued SAP in 2007 after noticing thousands of suspicious downloads of its software. A California jury awarded Oracle US$1.3 billion in 2010, but that amount was knocked down in subsequent judicial rulings.

Earlier this year a federal appeals court said Oracle could either accept US$356.7 million, or opt for a retrial against SAP.

"We are thrilled about this landmark recovery and extremely gratified that our efforts to protect innovation and our shareholders' interests are duly rewarded," Oracle's general counsel Dorian Daley said in a statement.

SAP said it was pleased that the courts "ultimately accepted SAP's arguments to limit Oracle's excessive damages claims and that Oracle has finally chosen to end this matter."

After Oracle sued, SAP conceded that its employees were illegally downloading Oracle files, but it could not agree with Oracle on damages. 

The downloads also resulted in a criminal probe, which SAP agreed to pay US$20 million to resolve.