Inside the SAP–Teradata Legal Battle and What it Means for Enterprise Databases

In this episode we revisit SAP and Teradata's legal battle that began in 2018.  The Bridge Project, SAP and Teradata's joint venture designed to bridge SAP's ERP with Teradata's analytics database, is the foundation of the lawsuit. 

The original complaint, filed by Teradata, accused SAP of trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, and antitrust violations. Both companies filed appeals in ensuing years. In October 2025, the US Supreme Court rejected a request for a hearing by SAP, allowing Teradata's suit to move ahead.

This case has the potential to move to trial in 2026. We'll be covering the case as it develops, as well as the resulting precedent that will influence ERP migrations and data migrations. Stay tuned to find out if this case heads to trial this year or settles out of court.

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Stakes And Players
• 2:46 Rewinding To 2008: Tech Context
• 5:20 ERP, Databases, And Warehouses 101
• 6:56 The Bridge Project Is Born
• 10:38 Alleged Misuse And Relationship Fallout
• 14:35 Lock-In, HANA, And Antitrust Concerns
• 18:56 Trade Secrets And Copyright Claims
• 23:09 Sherman Act: Tying And Monopoly
• 27:02 Why Did It Take A Decade
• 30:15 SAP’s Defense And Counterclaims
• 34:50 Discovery, Secrecy, And Code Review
• 38:05 Experts, Daubert, And Appeals
• 41:10 Why The Outcome Matters To Everyone
• 45:15 Tease For Part Two And Closing