And We Were Worried About the Chinese
March 23, 2007

While it isn’t specifically auto related, a lawsuit between U.S.-based Oracle Corp. and German-based SAP AG is worth some attention.

Oracle yesterday sued SAP for "corporate theft on a grand scale." Oracle claims its business software rival used customers' online access codes to steal copyrighted software.

Oracle, which is battling with SAP in the market for software that helps companies automate business functions, accused the German company of gaining repeated and unauthorized access to its password-protected customer support Web site.

In its lawsuit, Oracle said a "storehouse of stolen Oracle intellectual property" allowed SAP to offer cut-rate support services to Oracle customers and lure them to their own products.

U.S. and other Western companies, including automakers, have listed intellectual property theft as one of their top concerns in doing business with Chinese companies, some of which are their own partners. Now it appears intellectual property worries need to be extended to friends in Western countries as well. The outcome should be interesting to watch.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 5:41 AM under Business , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine