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Timeline Series – Oracle vs. SAP/TomorrowNow

December 1998 – Andrew Nelson and Seth Ravin found TomorrowNow. Seth Ravin is currently CEO of Rimini Street, another company on Oracle’s hit list.

March 2002 – TomorrowNow changes business to focus on providing third party maintenance and support service to companies licensing enterprise software, including Oracle applications, in particular PeopleSoft.

January 2005 – SAP, competitor of PeopleSoft and Oracle Corporation, purchases TomorrowNow.

January 2007 – Most of TomorrowNow’s Senior Management resigns (including co-founder Andrew Nelson).

March 2007 – Oracle files suit against SAP over allegations that its subsidiary, TomorrowNow, wrongfully downloaded millions of Oracle files.

July, 2007 – SAP responds to the lawsuit and admits to wrongdoing, conceding that TomorrowNow engaged in “inappropriate downloads of Oracle’s lucrative support materials”.

December 2007  SAP announces intention to sell TomorrowNow.

July 2008  SAP announces closing of TomorrowNow (unable to sell).

October 2008  Final clients/employees leave TomorrowNow.

Fall 2008 – TomorrowNow’s JDE global support team joins Spinnaker Support.

November 2010  Oracle attorney manages to get an “I am sorry to Oracle” from new SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott. They are still unable, however, to bring former SAP CEO Leo Apotheker to court (he was busy travelling for his new gig as CEO of HP).

November 2010  SAP attorney succeeds in getting Oracle CEO Larry Ellison to admit that he had exaggerated the PeopleSoft revenue stolen from Oracle by SAP’s rogue subsidiary. Ellison had previously claimed TommorrowNow cost Oracle 20% of its PeopleSoft and 15% of its Siebel customers. In fact they lost about 300 customers.

November 2010 – TomorrowNow is found liable for copyright infringement and SAP is ordered to pay $1.3B (the largest amount ever awarded in a copyright case).

August 2011 – Federal judge Phyllis J. Hamilton rejects the $1.3B jury award, calling for a new trial unless the companies agree to a $272 M settlement.

February 2012 – Oracle appeals settlement and a new trail is scheduled for September 2012.

August 2012 – Oracle and SAP/TomorrowNow temporarily avoid trial by settling for $306M (with clause allowing for appeal).

 August 2012  Oracle appeals the $306M settlement and now waits for a new trial to be scheduled in 2013.

 

To learn more about this series, read our introduction to timelines depicting Oracle’s attack on third party support.

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