Oracle Corp chief executive officer Larry Ellison said his company plans to produce evidence that Hewlett-Packard Co’s incoming CEO was involved in an effort to steal Oracle software while at former employer SAP AG.
“A few weeks ago I accused HP’s new CEO, Leo Apotheker, of overseeing an industrial espionage scheme centering on the repeated theft of massive amounts of Oracle’s software,” Ellison said in a statement on Tuesday.
Oracle intends to present evidence at a trial that starts on Monday, Ellison said.
HP said in response that Oracle is attempting to harass its new CEO, who had limited knowledge of the case.
SAP, which is fighting the amount of damages Oracle is seeking in a 2007 lawsuit, said yesterday that Ellison is using the trial as part of his personal crusade against HP.
Ellison hired former HP CEO Mark Hurd as a president last month and chided HP’s board for how it handled Hurd’s departure.
“Oracle had ample opportunity to question Leo during his sworn deposition in October 2008 and chose not to include him as a trial witness until he was named CEO of HP,” HP said in a statement.
“Given Leo’s limited knowledge of and role in the matter, Oracle’s last-minute effort to require him to appear live at trial is no more than an effort to harass him and interfere with his duties and responsibilities as HP’s CEO,” the statement said.
Apotheker is scheduled to begin as HP CEO the same day as court proceedings get under way to determine damages in the case involving TomorrowNow, the now defunct SAP subsidiary accused of stealing codes and documents to help it win Oracle customers. Oracle has said it may seek as much as US$1 billion in damages.
SAP asked the Northern District Court of California last Friday to prevent people involved in the case from talking to the media, saying it could influence jurors.
“This is more evidence of Oracle’s true motivation to use the trial as part of Ellison’s personal crusade against HP,” Christoph Liedtke, a spokesman at SAP, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “SAP remains focused on the core issue of determining reasonable levels of compensation in this case for Oracle.”
Ellison said in his statement that a major portion of the theft occurred while Apotheker was CEO of SAP and HP Chairman Ray Lane may try to keep him from testifying in the trial.
“If HP keeps Leo Apotheker far from HP headquarters we cannot subpoena him to testify at that trial,” Ellison wrote.
Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger didn’t respond to a voice mail seeking additional comment.
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