Computer Associates v. Ingres

VERDICT

Trial
07/27/09 – 07/31/09

Summary

5-day breach of contract bench trial involving software support, reseller, and licensing agreements between CA and its divested company, Ingres. The trial was held July 27-31, 2009, and final/closing arguments were heard on September 3, 2009.

After CA divested Ingres, Ingres became responsible for providing to CA's customers software support for certain Ingres products. The parties disputed, among other things, the products to which Ingres' support obligation extended. CA also alleged that Ingres improperly encouraged a CA customer, EDS, to upgrade from the legacy version of Ingres software (OpenRoad).

The court considered:

(1) Whether OpenRoad 2006 software was an update or enhancement of OpenRoad 4.1, within the meaning of the parties' legacy product support agreement, which would have obligated Ingres to license the software and to provide support;

(2) What was the impact of the 2007 reseller agreement, if any, on one of CA's customers, EDS, including the effect of Ingres' conduct on the contract;

(3) Was Olympus' Endoworks software, which was developed in alliance with Computer Associates, a "product" of CA; and

(4) Was Ingres entitled to $29M in damages from CA under the 2007 reseller agreement.

A related action, "Ingres Corp. v. CA Inc." is scheduled for trial in San Mateo Superior Court in November, 2009.

View a clip from 07/27/09, Cross Examination of Michael Christenson by David Berger.

Outcome

CA was not required to pay Ingres approximately $29 million for the licenses to the latest version of the OpenROAD software or to compensate Ingres for the inclusion of the Ingres Database software within the EndoWorks application. Also, CA had the right to continue to provide these licenses to Olympus under the March 2009 amendment to their ISV Agreement, and Ingres was required to continue to provide support for these licenses under the CA Support Agreement.
Ingres had to pay CA's reasonable attorneys' fees and costs for prevailing on the Olympus dispute. The court enforced the broad forum selection clause in the Legacy Support Agreement by enjoining the *123 California Action.

Case Information
Attorneys
Witnesses
Plaintiff
Defense
Judge
Leo Strine
Jurisdiction
Delaware Court Of Chancery
Court
New Castle County Courthouse
Case Number
4300
Industry
Technology
Practice Area
Commercial Law, Mergers and Acquisitions
Plaintiff
CA, Inc
Defense
Ingres Corp.
Expert Witnesses
Lay Witnesses

Sessions

JUL
27
JUL
28
JUL
29
JUL
30
JUL
31
PM Session
Closings
3 Chapters
SEP
3

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

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