Oracle, NEC tell their lawyers to take a break, settle suit involving biometrics software

There is one fewer courtroom drama involving biometrics.

Database software monolith Oracle and Japanese electronics giant NEC have notified a U.S. federal court that they are ending their dispute involving Oracle’s eponymous database software licensed to NEC for biometric ID systems.

The pair agreed to not resurrect the lawsuit, which involved an NEC multimodal automated biometric identification system (MBIS) product. Neither has commented on any details of the ultimate agreement.

The case, filed by Oracle after a 2019 audit of NEC license compliance, had the earmarks of a modest snit that could grow publicly acrimonious. Oracle originally demanded $7 million in damages.

But the combatants in January told the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that they were pursuing a settlement, according to Reuters.

Oracle executives had said their 2019 audit turned up practices by NEC that violated the licensing agreement it had signed in 2004. Reuters has a good summary of claims and counterclaims here.

NEC executives countered, saying Oracle’s “predatory” strategies include restrictive licenses that all but assure that they would violate contract provisions.

Reuters has reported Oracle’s contention that NEC used its database software in the hardware vendor’s Integra-ID 5, an MBIS which matches biometrics including face, voice and fingerprint. The product allegedly was sold to police agencies.

In fact, Oracle maintained that the Ohio State Police, without the software maker’s permission, used the database in conjunction with a third company’s law enforcement software.

Any financial terms in the settlement were not disclosed.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  lawsuits  |  licensing  |  NEC  |  Oracle