Oracle ordered to name settlement price in SAP lawsuit

A federal court judge ordered Oracle to name its settlement price in its ongoing litigation against archrival SAP over the handling of proprietary maintenance and support information for former Oracle customers who had switched over to a subsidiary of SAP.

Judge Joseph Spero on Monday ordered Oracle to give a specific dollar amount by February 13 to settle the lawsuit it filed in March 2007. Oracle previously indicated in its lawsuit that its damages were in excess of $1 billion.

SAP has until February 18 to issue a counterproposal. A settlement conference is scheduled for February 23.

The judge's order is common practice in lawsuits, in which the parties are ordered to attempt to reach a settlement before the case heads into trial. The trial date is February 8, 2010.

"We will abide by the decision of the court. It is in everyone's best interest to bring this case to an appropriate resolution without undue delay," SAP said in a statement.

Oracle declined to comment.