Teradata files IP theft suit against SAP, alleges former CTO Vishal Sikka was in the know

Cloud-based data and analytics firm Teradata has filed a complaint in a US court against German firm SAP alleging trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement and antitrust violations.

The complaint, filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of California, also claimed that key SAP employees, including its then former CTO Vishal Sikka "were aware of and supported SAP's misappropriation of Teradata's trade secrets during the development of HANA".

Sikka is considered to be the force behind SAP's analytics platform, HANA that had helped the company strengthen its position in the global market.

The complaint has been filed against SAP SE, SAP America, Inc and SAP Labs, LLC (collectively, SAP), Teradata said in a statement on its website. The statement also carried an online link to a copy of the lawsuit filed against SAP.

In its complaint, Teradata alleged that SAP has "engaged in a decade-long campaign of anti-competitive behaviour, to the detriment of the parties' customers and Teradata alike" and that the German firm had "lured" Teradata into a purported joint venture to gain access to the latter's intellectual property.

"SAP's purpose for the JV was to steal Teradata's trade secrets, developed over the course of four decades, and use them to quickly develop and introduce a competing though inferior product, SAP HANA," it claimed.

Teradata further alleged that upon the release of SAP HANA, SAP promptly terminated the JV and that "SAP is now attempting to coerce its customers into using HANA only, to the exclusion of Teradata".

On the development, SAP said it is "surprised to learn of the complaint filed by Teradata earlier today in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Although SAP generally does not comment on pending litigation, SAP may issue a statement, if appropriate, after it has had an opportunity to review the complaint."