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Oracle notches appeals court win vs. Rimini Street, keeps $28.5 million in attorneys' fees

The neverending Oracle vs. Rimini Street court battle may be nearing the finish line after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals maintained an injunction and affirmed an attorneys fee award to Oracle.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Oracle has won an appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to maintain an injunction against Rimini Street and affirmed the courts $28.5 million attorneys' fees award to Oracle.

In a statement, Oracle said the award affirmed a permanent injunction against Rimini for infringing on its intellectual property rights. Rimini has paid $90 million to Oracle since the legal battle started in 2010. 

The long-running lawsuit has been closely watched by enterprises using third party support services for their critical software.

For its part, Rimini Street said the appeals court corrected legal errors indicating refunds from Oracle. Rimini Street also said Oracle lost 23 of the 24 claims it originally sought in the case. Rimini did acknowledge that the Appeals Court didn't refund  $28 million in attorneys' fee paid to Oracle in 2016.

Jim Maroulis, senior managing counsel at Oracle responsible for the Rimini case, scoffed at Rimini's statement. "You don't get attorneys' fees if you aren't the prevailing party," he said. Maroulis added that the 23 out of 24 claims statement is misleading since one claim included 93 copyrights.

Maroulis argued that Rimini has tried to keep alive the idea that the injunction against it by Oracle is unlawful, but now it's permanent. "Rather than showing contrition, Rimini went out appealing that the injunction isn't lawful," he said. "It's almost comical."

Rimini Street said it is evaluating its legal options, but the attorneys fees awarded remain with Oracle. Rimini Street has already paid the money so there's no balance sheet hit.

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