SAP has issued a brief but vehement response to Oracle's lawsuit accusing the German software firm of corporate espionage. 

"SAP will not comment other than to make it clear to our customers, prospects, investors, employees and partners that SAP will aggressively defend against the claims made by Oracle in the lawsuit," read the statement.

Oracle has alleged that SAP resorted to corporate espionage tactics by stealing Oracle documents and software code.

The complaint filed by Oracle centres on SAP subsidiary TomorrowNow, a consultancy firm that specialises in helping enterprises migrate to SAP business software. 

Oracle claimed that TomorrowNow used illegal tactics to gain access to " thousands" of pieces of software and confidential documents. The alleged stolen materials were then used in the development of SAP migration programmes.

SAP has vowed to keep TomorrowNow running throughout the duration of the legal battle.

Oracle and SAP have spent several years locked in a battle for supremacy in the lucrative customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning markets.