More important, Oracle will likely not want to do anything that would weaken its position in a seprate IP theft lawsuit it has filed against another provider of relatively low-cost third-party support services for enterprise software.

Oracle accused Rimini of IP theft in delivering its support services, just as it did with TomorrowNow.

Rimini has insisted that it hasn't infringed on Oracle IP. The company has countersued Oracle for attempting to thwart it from delivering legitimate third-party software support services for enterprise customers.

At stake is the question of whether third-party services can offer support and maintenance services for customers of Oracle and other large software vendors without being accused of IP theft and other misdeeds.

The issue is an important one for large users because third-part support services such as those offered by Rimini and the now-defunct TomorrowNow have traditionally been delivered at a fraction of the cost charged by enterprise vendors.