Oracle sues support firm Rimini Street

Oracle has accused Rimini Street of intellectual property theft

Enterprise software giant Oracle has filed a lawsuit against Rimini Street, alleging that the little known software support firm stole huge amounts of copyrighted Oracle software and support material.

The case has drawn parallels with Oracle's fight with SAP's TomorrowNow business unit, which it also alleges used Oracle customer log-ins to steal copyrighted material.

Rimini Street has vowed to fight the allegations, arguing that the legal action is an attempt by Oracle to limit competition and "market choice for its software licences".

"Rimini Street offers valuable support options at more than a 50 per cent saving compared to Oracle," said chief executive Seth Ravin in a statement.

"Rimini Street's services are enjoyed by hundreds of clients around the world, including Global and Fortune 500 organisations, many government agencies, and small businesses trying to grow and hire new employees in these difficult economic times."

Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger said in a statement: "We are committed to enforcing our intellectual property rights against those who steal or infringe upon them."

The news comes at the end of a busy week for Oracle, in which the firm finally announced the completion of its acquisition of Sun Microsystems and revealed its roadmap for Sun products.