Oracle Corporation v. Hewlett-Packard Company

The First Amendment to the Constitution protects “the right of citizens to petition the government,” U.S. amend. I, which this Court has held “protects the right of individuals to appeal to courts and other forums established by the government for resolution of legal disputes.” Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri, 564 U.S. 379, 387 (2011). The lower courts, however, are split on the application of the Petition Clause to litigation-related activity, including communications among private parties incidental to litigation. In this case, the California courts upheld the imposition of a multi-billion dollar damages award against petitioner Oracle Corporation that was based in part on Oracle’s announcement that it would exercise its right to appeal an adverse ruling, without making any attempt to disaggregate the damages award to account for that constitutionally protected activity. The question presented is whether or to what extent the Petition Clause protects litigants from damages awards attributable to litigation-related activity, including the announcement of an intent to appeal a trial court’s ruling to a higher court.