Judge Rejects Oracle's $1.3B Award in SAP Lawsuit

A federal judge issued a surprising ruling on Thursday in a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) against SAP AG (NYSE:SAP).

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton rejected a jury award of $1.3 billion to Oracle handed down last year, calling the amount of the damages grossly excessive, Dow Jones reported. Oracle has alleged SAPs subsidiary TomorrowNow had illegally downloaded Oracles software to avoid paying licensing fees.

The judge, however, found that Oracle had only proven actual damages of $272 million and demanded a new trial unless Oracle agrees to accept the lesser amount.

Oracle disagrees with the judges decision.

"There was voluminous evidence regarding the massive scope of the theft, clear involvement of SAP management in the misconduct and the tremendous value of the IP stolen, said Deborah Hellinger, Oracle spokesperson, in a statement. We believe the jury got it right and we intend to pursue the full measure of damages that we believe are owed to Oracle."

Oracle shares fell 23 cents or near 1% in Thursdays session, finishing the day at $27.84 a share. The stock was down slightly in after-hours trading. SAP shares fell 75 cents or 1.38%, closing at $53.76.