With a jury trial scheduled to begin in a major copyright lawsuit next week, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said on Tuesday that he has evidence to prove that the incoming Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Léo Apotheker oversaw a scheme aimed at stealing Oracle's intellectual property when Apotheker was leading Oracle's German rival SAP AG.

The lawsuit involves SAP's TomorrowNow subsidiary which not only accessed Oracle's computers but also used pirated copies of Oracle's software to perform maintenance services for the TomorrowNow customers.

Pointing that SAP has already admitted in court documents that it stole Oracle's software, Ellison said in a statement to the Mercury News: "A few weeks ago I accused HP's new CEO, Leo Apotheker, of overseeing an industrial espionage scheme centering on the repeated theft of massive amounts Oracle's software. A major portion of this theft occurred while Mr. Apotheker was CEO of SAP."

Challenging HP to make Apotheker available as a witness in the case, Ellison added: "I hope I'm wrong, but my guess is that HP's new chairman, Mr. Ray Lane, will keep HP's new CEO, Mr. Apotheker, far--far away from the courthouse until this trial is over."

The jury trial which begins on Monday will determine the settlement amount that SAP should pay Oracle for the software theft - while Oracle is seeking nearly $2 billion in damages, SAP has expressed the view that tens of millions of dollars would be reasonable settlement amount.