Hewlett Packard Co. and CEO Meg Whitman won’t easily knock out an investor class action over the company’s botched 2011 acquisition of British software firm Autonomy Inc.

Mulling aloud motions to dismiss the case, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California said at a hearing Thursday he was inclined to dismiss allegations against some defendants including former HP CEO Leo Apotheker and Autonomy founder Michael Lynch, who briefly served as an HP vice president.