US Judge Allows Celonis Antitrust Lawsuit Against SAP to Proceed

A U.S. federal judge ruled that German software giant SAP must face key antitrust claims brought by rival Celonis, which accuses SAP of monopolizing access to data within its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software market. The judge allowed allegations of anticompetitive conduct and monopolization to proceed while dismissing claims of illegal product tying. Celonis argues that SAP restricted customers' ability to extract their own data from SAP's ERP systems and threatened to withdraw support from those using Celonis' competing process mining software. SAP expressed satisfaction that some claims were dismissed, denying any wrongdoing and pledging to vigorously defend itself. Celonis hailed the ruling as a major victory that greenlighted virtually all its claims, and was given 14 days to amend its complaint. The case underscores ongoing tensions in the business software market regarding data access and competition between established firms and emerging startups.