US software giant Oracle has filed a lawsuit against rival European firm SAP, accusing it of "corporate theft on a grand scale".
The California firm claims its German rival was "engaged in systematic, illegal access to – and taking from – Oracle's computerised customer support systems".
Oracle, which specialises in database development, asserts that through the illegal hacking of its systems SAP stole "thousands of proprietary, copyrighted software products and other confidential materials that Oracle developed".
Filed in a US federal district court in the California, the case against SAP contains claims of breaches against the federal computer fraud and abuse act and violations against unfair competition and civil conspiracy legislation.
It adds: "This storehouse of stolen Oracle intellectual property enables SAP to offer cut rate support services to customers who use Oracle software, and to attempt to lure them to SAP's applications software platform and away from Oracle's."
SAP is yet to respond to the allegations detailed in the lawsuit, which Oracle says is necessary to "stop SAP's illegal intrusions and theft, to prevent SAP from using the materials it has illegally acquired to compete with Oracle, and to recover damages and attorneys' fees".
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