OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - In the largest award ever in a copyright case, a federal jury ordered SAP AG, a German software company, to pay $1.3 billion in damages to Oracle. Oracle sued SAP in 2007, claiming its U.S. unit made thousands of illegal downloads and copies of Oracle software to duck licensing fees and steal customers.
Oracle is the world's second-largest maker of business software; SPA is the largest, according to Bloomberg News Service.
The jury issued its award after an 11-day trial. SAP did not contest that its TomorrowNow unit made the illegal downloads; it contested only how much they were worth. Oracle put the damage at $1.7 billion; SAP estimated it as $40 million.
SAP bought TomorrowNow in 2005 and closed it in 2008.
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