Not content with simply poaching controversial former HP CEO Mark Hurd, Oracle on Tuesday accused HP of pulling a "publicity stunt" when it sued Oracle for abandoning Intel's Itanium architecture.
"This case is an abuse of the judicial process—a publicity stunt in a broader campaign to lay the blame on Oracle for the disruption that will occur when HP's Itanium-based server business inevitably comes to an end," Oracle wrote in a Santa Clara, Ca. court request to reject HP's lawsuit.
Two weeks ago HP sued Oracle for allegedly breaching an earlier agreement to support Itanium; the next day Oracle fired back in a press release accusing HP of knowing of Intel's plans to scale back Itanium production months before Oracle did.
And in Tuesday's filing, Oracle dismissed the agreement as a mere "corporate hug" made during the ugly legal battles between Hurd and his former employer. Oracle said the agreement over which HP rested its case revolves around two sentences in a press release distriibuted last fall:
"HP and Oracle Corp. today reaffirmed their long-term strategic partnership and the resolution of litigation regarding Mark V. Hurd's employment at Oracle. The agreement also reaffirms HP and Oracle's commitment to delivering the best products and solutions to their more than 140,000 shared customers."
In March, Oracle announced that it would phase out software support for Itanium, after discussions with Intel execs led it to believe Itanium chips would soon be discontinued. At the time, Oracle rationalized that both Microsoft and RedHat had already ended software support for Itanium.
Meanwhile Intel has kept conspicuously quiet. It hasn't confirmed scaling back on Itanium production, and in fact after Oracle's announcement in March Intel CEO Paul Otellini said in a statement, "Intel's work on Intel Itanium processors and platforms continues unabated with multiple generations of chips currently in development and on schedule."