IBM Wins Reversal of $1.6 Billion Poaching Award to BMC (2)

International Business Machines Corp. won a court decision overturning $1.6 billion in damages it was ordered to pay BMC Software Inc. in 2022 for swapping in its own software while servicing their mutual client, AT&T Inc.

Setting aside what was called one of the largest-ever judgments in a commercial dispute, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Tuesday that IBM lawfully acquired the mainframe software account of AT&T, one of BMC’s core customers. The three-judge panel found that IBM didn’t breach an agreement between the firms that forbade it from encouraging mutual clients to switch to ...