Hewlett-Packard (HP) sued business software titan Oracle on Wednesday for turning its back on Itanium chip technology made by Intel.

HP charged that Oracle was breaking legally-binding commitments to continue designing software for HP's Itanium-based computing systems and was out to steal its customUers.

"We believe that this is an unlawful attempt to force customers from HP Itanium platforms to Oracle's own platforms," HP said in a release.

"We will take whatever legal actions are available to us necessary to protect our customers' best interests and the significant investments they have made."

Oracle countered that HP's legal claim was not true and that Oracle's decision was based on word from Intel that the Itanium chip line was approaching the end of its lifespan.

"Intel's plans to end-of-life Itanium will be revealed in court now that HP has filed this utterly malicious and meritless lawsuit against Oracle," the California firm owned by billionaire Larry Ellison said in a release.

HP's board members and management team know about Intel plans to phase out the Itanium microprocessor, Oracle contended.

HP filed the suit in a California state court, asking a judge to order Oracle to reverse its March decision to abandon Itanium.

More than 140,000 customers use a combination of HP computers and Oracle business software, according to HP.

"HP remains committed to a long-term mission-critical server roadmap, including Intel's Itanium processor," HP said. " Similarly, Intel has repeatedly reinforced its ongoing commitment to the Itanium roadmap."

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