SAP seeks gag on Oracle ahead of TomorrowNow trial

SAP is attempting to silence Oracle as the TomorrowNow trial approaches, according to reports.

The company is seeking to quell any public talk about its alleged anti-competitive behaviour, which it said could damage its chances in court.

The reports claim that documents have already been filed in the courts asking for a block on anyone from Oracle making comments that SAP finds uncomfortable and that could potentially harm its reputation.

Court documents published on the Scribd web site quote SAP as asking for "an order prohibiting counsel for the parties from making extrajudicial statements about the trial until the end of the trial or, alternatively, from making any extrajudicial statements".

SAP specifically cited a story in The New York Times which accused former SAP chief executive Leo Apotheker of "the most serious business crime you can commit" - intellectual property theft.

It was later revealed that the author was engaged to a communications executive at the law firm working for Oracle, although it was denied that his fiancée was the source of information in the report.

SAP is now looking to make sure that any similar reports are banned for fear of prejudicing its case.

The company acknowledges that it would be difficult to stop jurors searching for incidents of SAP's name on the internet, but is hoping that it can prevent any new content from emerging.

"While the court cannot control what the press writes about this case, or ensure that jurors are not exposed to it, the court can take steps to make certain that counsel are not attempting to communicate with jurors in this manner," the court papers read, quoting established precedents.

The trial starts next week and alleges that TomorrowNow benefited from information stolen from an Oracle web site.

V3.co.uk asked SAP for confirmation of this, but had not received a reply at the time of publication.