Hamilton issued a "minute order" on Monday saying Oracle can't claim damages for money it lost from "cross-sell" and "up-sell" opportunities -- in other words, additional software it might have been able to sell to customers that it lost to TomorrowNow because of the stolen software.

Oracle can still claim for profits it lost as a direct result of the theft, and it can still ask for its "hypothetical license" -- the money SAP would have had to pay if it licensed the software from Oracle legally. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison testified in court Monday that Oracle could have charged $4 billion for the license.

SAP says it should only be liable for the profits Oracle lost as a direct result of the theft, not for the hypothetical license. It claims Oracle lost very few customers because of TomorrowNow and that SAP should have to pay only tens of millions of dollars.

The trial, in its second week at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is expected to conclude by the end of the month.