Salesforce.com sues rival over ads

San Francisco-based Salesforce.com has filed a false-advertising complaint against its rival, Upshot, in the U.S. District Court of Northern California. Salesforce.com said Monday that it is contesting three print ads that depict Salesforce lagging behind Upshot on various fronts. Two of them feature the headline, "The Better Online CRM Solution."

Salesforce.com and Upshot compete in the market for software delivered as a service over the Web. They make applications designed to help businesses streamline sales and marketing functions, a process known as customer relationship management, or CRM. Both companies have cast themselves as the David of the business software industry, trying to overthrow Goliaths such as Oracle, Siebel Systems and SAP. The disputed ad campaign and lawsuit suggest neither company is above picking a fight with the other.