OAKLAND, CA—SAP AG should have shut down its TomorrowNow ERP third-party maintenance business in the spring of 2008, as soon as the company determined that there was some validity to Oracle Corp.’s copyright infringement claims, SAP CFO and Executive Board Member Werner Brandt testified on Friday.
Speaking from the witness stand at the high-profile trial in U.S. District Court here, Brandt said, “We should have decided to shut down TomorrowNow immediately.”
Brandt said SAP wanted to keep TomorrowNow operating so it could continue to provide support to existing customers. But he acknowledged that SAP tried to sell the TomorrowNow operation soon after its own internal investigation revealed that the third-party ERP maintenance unit had infringed Oracle’s copyright. SAP couldn’t find a buyer, however, because potential buyers were concerned about liability, Brandt said.
Oracle sued SAP in 2007 for copyright and other violations, contending that SAP improperly downloaded massive amounts of software and other materials from Oracle online support sites. Oracle has said it intends to demand in excess of $2 billion in damages. SAP has admitted copyright violations by TomorrowNow but maintains that officials at the SAP AG parent company were unaware of the violations and that damages should be much less than what Oracle suggests.