In closing arguments in a case that’s been a year in the making, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) asked a judge yesterday to enforce its contract with Oracle over Itanium-based servers.
HP sued Oracle in June 2011 when the computer technology company announced that it would no longer develop software for use with Itanium, after Intel Corp. reportedly indicated that it would abandon development of the chip in favor of its x86 Xeon microprocessor. Intel later denied these claims.
HP uses the Itanium microprocessors in many of its products, and claims in its suit that the two companies had an agreement that Oracle would continue producing Itanium processors as long as HP was using them. Oracle denies this claim, saying there was no such contract.
Last month, a court rejected Oracle’s motion to throw out the suit.
Rather than a jury decision, Santa Clara Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg will rule on the first phase of the trial, specifically regarding the existence of this contract, as well as its terms. If Judge Kleinberg sides with HP, a jury will decide whether Oracle violated the contract and determine damages.
Read more about this story in Reuters.
