A recent Law 360 story by Mike LaSusa, “Gibson Dunn Seeks $18M in Fees for HPE’s Win Over Oracle,” reports that Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP lawyers have asked a California federal court to award Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. nearly $18 million in attorney fees after the firm helped the tech giant fend off a software copyright suit by Oracle Corp. earlier this year.  HPE said its request for $17,879,638 in fees was less than the estimated $20 million it had spent defending itself against Oracle’s claims that HPE offered illegal updates to customers of Oracle's Solaris operating system as part of a scheme concocted by another company, Terix Computer Co. Inc.

Additionally, HPE pointed out that U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar dismissed all of Oracle's claims, though court records show Oracle has appealed the judgment to the Ninth Circuit. HPE also criticized the "inappropriately" aggressive litigation strategy of its Silicon Valley rival.  "Given HPE's complete success in the case, Oracle's unreasonable and aggressive approach in the litigation, and the need to compensate HPE and to deter Oracle, the court should grant HPE's motion and award HPE the reasonable fees it requests," the company said.  The parties met earlier this month to try to come to an agreement on the fee issue but weren't successful, HPE said in its filing.

The company said its request for $17.9 million was fair "given the complex, contentious and high-stakes nature of this lawsuit," and the fact that Oracle itself had received comparable attorney fees awards in similar cases, like a $28.5 million award in a case against Rimini Street Inc. and $120 million in a case against SAP AG.  A hearing on the motion for attorney fees is set for June 13, court records show.

The case is Oracle America Inc. et al. v. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. et al., case number 3:16-cv-01393, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.