The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear SAP's appeal, clearing the way for Teradata's antitrust lawsuit against the software giant to proceed to trial in April 2026. Teradata accuses SAP of illegally tying sales of its enterprise planning software to its proprietary database, a practice Teradata claims stifles competition in the analytics database market. This decision, which follows a reversal by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, maintains significant legal scrutiny on software bundling practices, with other major tech firms like Meta Platforms and Microsoft having supported SAP's appeal, highlighting the broader industry implications for enterprise software vendors.
AMD shares surge after AI chip deal with OpenAI By Mike Scarcella WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by Europe’s largest software maker SAP to avoid a lawsuit by U.S. data technology company Teradata that accused it of violating American antitrust law. The justices turned away SAP’s appeal of a lower court’s decision that let Teradata pursue claims that its larger German rival violated U.S. antitrust law by tying sales of business-planning applications to the purchase of a key SAP database that can perform transactional and analytical functions. San Diego-based Teradata makes a rival analytics database. Teradata filed its lawsuit against SAP in federal court in California in 2018. SAP has denied any wrongdoing. A judge has scheduled an April 2026 trial on Teradata’s claims, as well as on a counterclaim that SAP lodged against Teradata accusing it of patent infringement. SAP sells "enterprise resource planning" software to companies that lets them manage data used in daily activities such as finance and supply-chain operations. Teradata makes a database that can provide analytics on such a substantial amount of data. The company said SAP customers relied on other tech companies like Teradata to handle the data that SAP’s applications produced. The lawsuit accused SAP of illegally tying sales of its business operations software with a new product that was developed to compete with Teradata’s database. Two key legal standards guide how judges resolve whether conduct restrains competition: the "per se rule," under which alleged conduct is presumed illegal; and the "rule of reason," under which judges balance between anticompetitive effects and a defendant’s procompetitive justification. SAP won in the district court, but the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived Teradata’s case in 2024. The 9th Circuit said there was a material dispute between the companies that a jury could take up and decide. The 9th Circuit, using a version of the "per se rule," applied too stringent a standard in evaluating Teradata’s claims, SAP told the Supreme Court in a filing. SAP said the 9th Circuit’s ruling clashed with how another federal appeals court in Washington in 2001 resolved a landmark antitrust case against Microsoft. In its filing at the Supreme Court, SAP said its two products were integrated, and that such integration benefits consumers and allows companies to compete effectively. Teradata urged the justices to reject SAP’s appeal. It disputed that SAP’s two products were integrated and also denied there was any divide among the federal appeals courts about which rules judges should use to evaluate antitrust lawsuits. Meta Platforms and Microsoft jointly submitted a friend-of-the-court brief backing SAP at the Supreme Court. Should you invest $2,000 in MSFT right now? Most investors will find it hard to answer that question with total confidence. Short of a guarantee, which no one can give you, the most successful traders stick to proven best practices without letting hype or hyper-vigilance take over their better judgment. But that doesn't mean you can't use smart shortcuts. If you're considering MSFT, try chatting with WarrenAI, our powerful AI financial assistant. It's just like ChatGPT for investors, but with access to 10 years of company data, a built-in screener, Wall Street analysts' reports, and earnings call transcripts for real-time, vetted insights. Even if you end up going with your gut feeling, at least you'll know why. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to decline SAP's appeal is a significant legal setback for the software company, clearing the path for an antitrust lawsuit filed by competitor Teradata (TDC) to proceed to trial in April 2026. This development prolongs a period of legal uncertainty and potential financial exposure for SAP, which is accused of illegally tying its dominant enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to its own database product, thereby stifling competition. For Teradata, the ruling is a procedural victory that allows it to pursue its claims in court. The case's significance extends beyond the two litigants, as indicated by the amicus brief filed by Meta Platforms and Microsoft in support of SAP. This involvement underscores a broader industry concern that the lawsuit's outcome could set a precedent for how software bundling and product integration are treated under U.S. antitrust law, potentially impacting business models across the enterprise technology sector. The existence of a patent infringement counterclaim by SAP against Teradata adds complexity to the dispute. It is critical to note that the article's headline mentioning an AMD AI chip deal is entirely disconnected from the body of the text, which focuses exclusively on the SAP-Teradata legal matter.
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