Court start for HP boss
By Jordan Robertson |
October 13, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HEWLETT-PACKARD Co's new CEO will start his job in a courtroom - and in the crosshairs of HP's new antagonist, Oracle Corp. Court documents show that Leo Apotheker is being called as a witness in Oracle's corporate espionage trial against rival SAP AG, Apotheker's employer of more than 20 years.
The trial starts on November 1, the same day Apotheker starts at HP.
The biggest fireworks in the case seemed to have fizzled two months ago, when SAP said it wouldn't fight Oracle's central claim, that an SAP subsidiary stole valuable customer-support materials from Oracle and tried to use it to steal customers.
But Apotheker's appointment at HP dragged the world's biggest technology company into the mix, and the trial will give Oracle's lawyers a chance to take a run at HP's new leader.
He is expected to testify about how much SAP's management knew about its TomorrowNow subsidiary's illicit activities.
Ray Lane, HP's incoming chairman, said that TomorrowNow was never under Apotheker's supervision and that it was Apotheker who shut down the division after he became SAP's CEO in 2008.
TomorrowNow is accused of plundering Oracle documents from password-protected websites. It had access to those sites through its own customers, who had bought Oracle software but hired TomorrowNow to help support it.
According to Oracle's complaint, TomorrowNow abused its access to those sites by lifting material including software updates.
The trial starts on November 1, the same day Apotheker starts at HP.
The biggest fireworks in the case seemed to have fizzled two months ago, when SAP said it wouldn't fight Oracle's central claim, that an SAP subsidiary stole valuable customer-support materials from Oracle and tried to use it to steal customers.
But Apotheker's appointment at HP dragged the world's biggest technology company into the mix, and the trial will give Oracle's lawyers a chance to take a run at HP's new leader.
He is expected to testify about how much SAP's management knew about its TomorrowNow subsidiary's illicit activities.
Ray Lane, HP's incoming chairman, said that TomorrowNow was never under Apotheker's supervision and that it was Apotheker who shut down the division after he became SAP's CEO in 2008.
TomorrowNow is accused of plundering Oracle documents from password-protected websites. It had access to those sites through its own customers, who had bought Oracle software but hired TomorrowNow to help support it.
According to Oracle's complaint, TomorrowNow abused its access to those sites by lifting material including software updates.
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