Jury Says Oracle Should Pay $3 Billion in Damages to Hewlett Packard Enterprise
June 30 2016 - 8:57PM
Dow Jones News
By Don Clark
A jury in Silicon Valley on Thursday delivered a resounding
victory to Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., finding that Oracle
Corp. should pay the computer maker $3 billion in damages -- the
full amount it sought -- for actions that contributed to the
decline of a once-lucrative line of high-end computers.
The jury on Thursday sided with HP Enterprise's contention that
Oracle violated a contract between the companies when it decided in
2011 to stop creating new versions of its database and other
software for systems running Intel Corp.'s Itanium chip, a
different and less successful technology branch of that company's
popular line of microprocessors.
HP Enterprise, which makes server systems and other data center
hardware, was created last fall from the breakup of Hewlett-Packard
Co. HP had argued in a suit in Santa Clara County Superior Court
that Oracle's moves violated terms of a settlement associated with
its hiring of former HP CEO Mark Hurd. It argued Oracle, which had
expanded into servers by buying Sun Microsystems Inc., had set out
to harm its new rival by the move.
"Oracle's decision to stop future software development on the
Itanium server platform in March of 2011 was a clear breach of
contract that caused serious damage to HP and our customers," said
John Schultz, HP Enterprise's executive vice president, general
counsel and corporate secretary.
Oracle denied wrongdoing. Larry Ellison, its chairman, testified
that the company took action because Intel had decided to stop
supporting Itanium -- an assertion Intel has denied.
Oracle previously resumed developing software for Itanium after
an earlier ruling in the case. It vowed to appeal the jury
decision.
"Five years ago, Oracle made a software development announcement
which accurately reflected the future of the Itanium
microprocessor," said Dorian Daley, its executive vice president,
general counsel and secretary. "Two trials have now demonstrated
clearly that the Itanium chip was nearing end of life, HP knew it,
and was actively hiding that fact from its customers."
Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 30, 2016 20:42 ET (00:42 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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