Myriad Group AG sued Oracle America because Oracle America allegedly “breached” obligations under the Java Specification Participation Agreement (JSPA).

Myriad said it and its customers were “economically disadvantaged” because of the company’s actions, according to a company statement.

In the legal complaint, Myriad said Oracle tried to get an “unfair advantage” in “downstream markets.”

Oracle also allegedly tried to exclude Myriad from this market by claiming that Myriad's products are, or contain, “Oracle Optimized Implementations.”

Myriad responds that it does not now nor never has used “Oracle Optimized Implementations” in any of its products.

In addition, Oracle has collected “exorbitant royalties” from Myriad and its customers for “the use of code that is not found in Myriad independently optimized offerings,” Myriad said.

“Oracle seeks to impose costs on Myriad equal to or higher than its own downstream price, thus preventing Myriad from effectively competing, and imposing unjustified charges on Myriad's customers,” Myriad added.

In addition, when Myriad tried to protest, Oracle denied Myriad access to Technology Compatibility Kits (TCKs) “needed to certify Java compliance of Myriad's products, and to falsely represent to Myriad's customers that Myriad is no longer licensed to create Java-compliant products,” said Myriad.

Myriad said that this is the same “false claim that is the basis for Oracle's competing lawsuit against Myriad filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of California.”

“Oracle erroneously claims that because Myriad is failing to pay royalties for use of Oracle Optimized Implementations it is creating Java-branded software without a license,” Myriad adds. “But Myriad does not owe any such royalties because it does not use Oracle's Optimized Implementations. Myriad also holds an independent, preexisting license to engage in Java implementations, by virtue of Myriad's cooperation with Oracle / Sun and other technology companies in developing Java specifications as part of the ‘Java Community Process.’"

Myriad is seeking both punitive damages and the return of $120 million in “overpaid royalties,” according to a report carried on TechZone360.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware.

An Oracle spokeswoman did not return voice-mail and e-mail messages seeking immediate comment, according to a report from SFGate.

Myriad is a mobile technology provider. It has shipped over 3.7 billion software apps on more than 2.2 billion phones, according to the company’s website.