Court Reduces Oracle's Judgment Against SAP From $1.3 Billion (With a B) to $272 Million (With a M).
Once upon a time, SAP purchased a company called TomorrowNow. TomorrowNow apparently 
downloaded Oracle software thousands of time in an effort to get the software cheaply (free) and obtain some of Oracle's customers. Oracle sued and SAP did not contest the fact of the downloads but alleged that the damages to Oracle should be equal to the profits that Oracle would have realized from the pirated software. The Court allowed the jury to find damages based on a "hypothetical license" that would have existed between Oracle and SAP if Oracle allowed SAP to use the software in question. This allowed the jury to find damages in the amount of $1.3 billion, the largest copyright infringement verdict in history. However, today, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the judge found that there was no evidence that Oracle would have ever granted such a license and that damages must be based on evidence and not speculation or guesswork. The judge then said that the judgment could be reduced to $272 million and if the parties could agree on that, then it would be settled. If they do not agree, then a new trial 
will be ordered.
It's an interesting world when a $272 million dollar verdict is considered a victory for the defense.
