Business secrets will be open in Oracle case

The U.S. Department of Justice has found itself on the end of a verbal volley from the judge presiding over the Oracle antitrust case, who dismissed a request from the DoJ for the court to seal confidential documents used as evidence during the trial.

Judge Vaughn Walker said his decision to reject the request was due to a deep seated reluctance to have anything on which the court could potentially base its decision on being kept out of view.

The trial, which is scheduled to begin on June 7, will see Oracle try to have overturned the ruling by the DoJ which seeks to block Oracle's bid for rival business application software maker PeopleSoft on the grounds that it would lead to an anticompetitive market.

Oracle's rivals, including PeopleSoft and SAP, have previously expressed concerns over handing over confidential corporate documents to Oracle's legal counsel, fearing that Oracle would gain a competitive advantage over its competitors by finding out how they approach tenders and what margins they are operating on.

The judge also rejected the vendors' request that certain documents be withheld, arguing that the denial of access to such documents would prevent the Oracle legal team from being able to mount a proper challenge to the DoJ.

Related Article:

Small victory for Oracle in antitrust appeal case