Court orders Oracle to keep making software for HP servers

Database giant will appeal decision that "turns Silicon Valley partnerships upside down" as bitter vendor stand-off continues

A US court has ordered Oracle to keep supplying bitter rival HP with software for its servers.

Last year the database giant decided to cease development on software for the Itanium chip, claiming that it was convinced the Intel technology was nearing its end-of-life process. This week a court ruled that Oracle is contractually obliged to continue to provide HP with the software "until such time as HP discontinues the sales of its Itanium-based servers", and must do so "without charge to HP".

In a statement, Oracle's Deborah Hellinger revealed that the vendor plans "to appeal the court's ruling while fully litigating our cross claims that HP misled both its partners and customers".

"We know that Oracle did not give up its fundamental right to make platform engineering decisions in the 27 words HP cites from the settlement of an unrelated employment agreement," she added. "HP's argument turns the concept of Silicon Valley ‘partnerships' upside down."

Relations between Oracle and HP have been fiery in recent years. The partnership was surely strained by the software firm's blockbuster buyout of server maker Sun Microsystems.

But the enmity reached fever pitch only when the two companies got in a legal wrangle over Mark Hurd, the former HP CEO who resigned under a cloud in August 2010 and was swiftly appointed as Oracle president.

Oracle boss Larry Ellison has been typically voluble in his lampooning of HP, while HP has not been above shooting back the occasional acerbic barb.