REDWOOD SHORES (dpa-AFX) - Oracle Corp (ORCL) has failed in its efforts to reinstate a $1.3 billion jury award against German software maker SAP for copyright violations after a federal appeals court on Friday ruled that the award was excessive and based on speculation.
Oracle, based in Redwood City, California, in a 2007 lawsuit, charged that TomorrowNow, a now defunct unit of SAP, made massive illegal downloads of software and used them to provide maintenance services to Oracle customers.
In 2010, a jury awarded $1.3 billion in damages, assuming that to be the value if SAP had licensed the downloads from Oracle.
SAP admitted to the charges but differed over the damage claims put forth by Oracle.
On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the jury's award was based on speculation and excessive. The appeals court also returned the case to a trial judge, saying that Oracle be awarded lower damage claims or accept a new trial.
A trial judge in 2011 reduced the award from $1.3 billion to $272 million. The appeals court said that was too low and put the damages at $356.7 million.
Oracle stock is trading at $41.53, up $0.26 or 0.63%, on a volume of 8.7 million shares on the NYSE.
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