SAP has been wading through difficult waters lately as the German software giant negotiates two concurrent intellectual property suits.

Next week, the company will defend itself in court against Oracle over allegations that an SAP subsidiary illegally downloaded programs owned by the plaintiff. SAP maintains that the subsidiary, TomorrowNow, was authorized to download the programs on behalf of customers. However, the firm does submit that "inappropriate downloads" likely occurred.

Meanwhile, Laserfiche, an imaging software vendor, has sued SAP over a trademark infringement involving the company's use of the phrase "Run Smarter."

"In an effort to exploit and improperly trade on Laserfiche's goodwill, SAP has deliberately and unlawfully appropriated Laserfiche's trademark rights," states the complaint filed on Oct. 19 in California. "(SAP) knew that Laserfiche was the owner of the 'Run Smarter' trademark and ... knew about the considerable commercial success of Laserfiche's software business."

The privately held Long Beach firm asserts it has been using the trademark slogan since 2004, while SAP has used variations on the "Run Smarter" line through numerous publications, marketing materials and products.

As SAP prepares itself for its newest IP battle, other companies begin to implement more robust intellectual property management systems.