According to a lawsuit recently filed by the commercial reseller MicroTech, Hewlett-Packard’s Autonomy unit, purchased by HP in October 2011, owes MicroTech either $16.5 million or the license keys to software it purchased from Autonomy.
Breach of contract
The transactions that are the basis of the breach of contract claim took place prior to HP’s acquisition of Autonomy. MicroTech is a federal systems integrator that distributes to several companies throughout the country, including Florida. The lawsuit against the Autonomy unit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
In its lawsuit, MicroTech is alleging breach of contract. The company claims that in March 2010, MicroTech paid $11 million for software for the Vatican Library, and in June 2011, it paid $7 million for software for HP. However, HP claims that Autonomy paid MicroTech $8.2 million for software that Autonomy neither requested nor received. HP also states that funds were transferred several ways during the Vatican Library deal.
Commercial Litigation
HP is involved in commercial litigation of its own against Autonomy’s founder as well as its former CFO. The company claims that the two acted in such a way as to cause Autonomy to overstate its growth, revenue, and profits. HP’s acquisition of Autonomy was valued at more than $10 billion. This lawsuit was filed in the High Court in London.
Breach of contract lawsuits can be highly technical, and a plaintiff may have a choice of several remedies to pursue. Many companies who are involved in these types of disputes find the advice and counsel of a business attorney to be helpful.
Source: CRN, “MicroTech Fights Back In HP-Autonomy Dispute With Breach Of Contract Suit”