The Supreme Court has denied BMC Software's petition for writ of certiorari -- formalizing the Fifth Circuit decision that nullified a $1.6 billion judgment against IBM. The appellate court had overturned the district court's breach of contract finding and its subsequent large damages award.
This case involves two large companies, each with billions of dollars in annual revenues. But, the setup will be familiar to so many innovative companies across the nation that are forced by market realities to do business with the very competitors that are likely to be their undoing. Small businesses frequently find themselves in Faustian bargains -- one example being selling products on Amazon while knowing the tech giant is carefully analyzing customer interactions to identify profitable markets for directly competing products.
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