Oracle Goes After SAP Again (ORCL, SAP)

Last September a California judge tossed out a verdict that would have given Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) a $1.3 billion payment in a dispute with SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) over a software copyright issue. The judge gave Oracle a choice: accept a $272 million payment or go through the whole trial again.

Oracle has decided to forego the cash and start over, according the WSJ blog All Things Digital:

Oracle has no choice but to elect a new trial, as accepting the [payment] would force Oracle to risk waiving its right to appeal the Court’s decision on the motions for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial. Oracle’s objective is to obtain clarification of the law and, if it is right about what the law is and what the evidence supports in this case, to vindicate the verdict of the jury and Oracle’s intellectual property rights as a copyright owner. Accepting the [payment] would be contrary to this objective.

If you missed this trial last year, you get another chance now.