Oracle and HP Trade Punches on Eve of Itanium Trial

On the first anniversary of their bitter spat over the ill-fated Itanium chip, Oracle and HP have both asked a federal court to settle the battle before it actually goes to trial.
On March 23, 2011, Oracle told the world that it would cease development of the software it built for HP systems based on Itanium, a high-end server chip HP developed in tandem with Intel. HP subsequently sued Oracle, claiming breach of contract, and yes, Oracle then counter sued. The spat is set for trial on May 31, but this week both companies asked federal judge James Kleinberg to settle the matter before it actually goes to court.
On Monday, HP filed two pretrial motions asking the judge to evaluate the merits of Oracle’s countersuit ahead of trial. This is a common pre-trial tactic, but HP is looking to get the judge to throw out Oracle’s countersuit before it goes any further.
“[The key facts of this case] has led HP to seek a pretrial ruling that Oracle is contractually obligated to offer future versions of Oracle’s software on Itanium,” read the canned statement from HP. “It is time for Oracle to quit pursuing baseless accusations and honor its commitments to HP and to our shared customers.”
Oracle wasted no time in filing a summary judgment of its own, and sending out a typically colorful statement. “Rather than filing a legal motion, HP has yet again filed a press release that continues its campaign of lies about the Itanium roadmap,” read a statement from Oracle attorney Dan Wall. “HP’s PR Director admitted the lawsuit was conceived as part of a campaign designed to ‘foment customer outrage.’ HP’s documents and executive deposition testimony make indisputable the fact that Itanium is nearing the end of life as Oracle said.”
When Oracle dropped Itanium from its software roadmap last year, it claimed that the Itanium processor was dying as Intel focused on chips that use its traditional x86 architecture. But HP thinks there’s still life in the thing, and it argues that Oracle is contractually obligated to continue its support for the chip. Oracle counters that HP is misleading the market by continuing to prop up Itanium. Both Intel and Red Hat have been subpoenaed in the suit
In its countersuit, Oracle says HP deceived customers by failing to disclose the payment terms of its contract with Intel for the development of the Itanium microprocessor. HP says this is “baseless as evidenced by the fact that Mark Hurd — the current president of Oracle and HP’s former chief executive officer who was responsible for ‘closing the deal’ with Intel — disagrees with the claim.”
Even before Oracle pulled its Itanium support, tensions were high between the two companies because of Hurd’s departure from HP and subsequent re-emergence at Oracle. Hurd is an old tennis buddy of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Hurd was dismissed from HP amid claims of sexual harassment, and Oracle promptly snapped him up, claiming HP treated Hurd unfairly.
In the legal case, HP cites its settlement agreement with Hurd and Oracle over his hiring as evidence that Oracle must continue support for Itanium. But Oracle thinks this is nonsense. “We don’t believe, nor do we think HP really believes, that a settlement agreement relating to Mark Hurd’s employment could possibly obligate Oracle to write new software for a platform that is clearly end of life,” read his statement. “We are pleased the Court now has the evidence needed to see HP’s purported contract claims for what they are.”

By Caleb Garling March 27, 2012
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/03/oracle-hp-itanium/

Image : Oracle and HP keep up the good fight over the Itanium chip. Image: abolotnov/Flickr