The Forever Lawsuit

Oracle v. Rimini Street was filed in 2010. A milestone of sorts was reached in 2014 when a jury concluded that Rimini was violating Oracle’s copyright. A permanent injunction was issued ordering Rimini to pay more than $100 million in damages, but a debate broke out over what the phrase “full costs” meant in the judgement. Oracle wanted expert witness fees, e-discovery expenses, etc.  Rimini disagreed and in 2019 the Supreme Court took the Las Vegas company’s side 9-0. Bret Kavanaugh borrowed from the sports lexicon to explain that “full costs” means costs not frills, just as “a ‘full season ticket plan’ means tickets, not hot dogs.” Rimini’s payoff was whittled down, but it didn’t end there. Oracle sought to reopen discovery to see if Rimini was abiding by the permanent injunction. Now the two sides appear to be heading for another trial to determine whether Rimini’s new enterprise software support and maintenance techniques are violating the copyright and the permanent injunction. Both litigants issued press releases on April Fool’s Day, taking one another to task for exaggerated claims concerning an innocuous district court ruling. Oracle had the rhetorical edge, echoing George Orwell — “By Rimini Street’s reasoning, losing is winning, up is down, and ignorance is strength.”