The decision to award US software giant Oracle $1.3 billion in damages from German rival SAP has been overturned by a judge. Oracle was awarded the sum last year by a jury following allegations that an SAP subsidiary had wrongfully downloaded millions of Oracle files.

Judge Phyllis Hamilton, in San Francisco, said this amount "was contrary to the weight of the evidence and was grossly excessive".

"Oracle’s suggestion, that upon proof of infringement, copyright plaintiffs are automatically entitled to seek ‘hypothetical’ license damages because they are presumed to have suffered harm in the form of lost license fees, has no support in the law,” she said.

Oracle is still entitled to damages, given SAP’s admission of liability, Judge Hamilton set a lower figure of $272 million and gave Oracle until 30 September to accept the ruling or not.

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