June 4 (Reuters) - Europe's largest software maker SAP

(SAPG.DE) has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision

that said the technology giant must face a lawsuit by U.S. data

technology company Teradata ( TDC ) accusing it of violating antitrust

law.

SAP in a petition made public on Tuesday said a decision by

the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California that

reinstated Teradata's ( TDC ) lawsuit will threaten American tech

innovation if it is left in place.

Teradata ( TDC ) accused SAP of violating antitrust law by "tying"

sales of business-planning applications with the purchase of a

key SAP database that can perform transactional and analytical

functions. Teradata ( TDC ) makes a rival analytics database.

In its filing at the high court, SAP said the integration of

software products can often benefit consumers and "represent an

effort to 'compete effectively,' rather than to stifle

competition."

SAP declined to comment. Teradata ( TDC ) did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

San Diego-based Teradata ( TDC ) filed its lawsuit against SAP in

federal court in California in 2018. The two companies once had

a joint venture, but SAP terminated it after developing its own

analytics database.

SAP won in the district court, but the 9th Circuit revived

Teradata's ( TDC ) case in December. The appeals court said there was

material dispute between the companies that a jury could decide.

If the Supreme Court takes the case, the justices could rule

on which legal standard judges should use to weigh antitrust

tying claims.

Two key legal standards guide how judges resolve whether

conduct restrains competition: the "per se rule," where alleged

conduct is presumed illegal, and the "rule of reason," where

judges balance between anticompetitive effects and a defendant's

procompetitive justification.

The 9th Circuit, using a version of the "per se rule,"

applied too stringent a standard in evaluating Teradata's ( TDC )

claims, SAP told the justices.

SAP said the appellate court's ruling clashed with how a

Washington federal appeals court resolved a landmark antitrust

case against Microsoft in the 1990s.

The case is SAP SE et al v. Teradata Corp ( TDC ), U.S. Supreme

Court, unassigned.

For SAP: Kannon Shanmugam of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &

Garrison

For Teradata ( TDC ): No appearance yet