Remember last week we reported that the jury had found Google guilty of infringing on Oracle’s copyright? While this might sound like a victory for Oracle, at the same time the jury were unable to come to a decision as to whether Google’s use of the Java API went beyond “fair use” of Oracle’s copyright, ultimately resulting in a standoff in which Google asked for a mistrial, while Oracle requested that the judge come up with a ruling of his own. The judge has finally ruled and has decided that the case will now proceed to a damages phase, reportedly the third and final phase whereby the jury will decide as to whether Google will have to pay Oracle for allegedly infringing upon its copyrights and patents.
However it should be noted that if Oracle were to win here, the damages they receive as compensation from Google will not be in the hundreds of millions. According to Judge William Alsup, “There is no way that the law should allow a disgorgement of hundreds of millions of dollars over range check and decompile,” both of which are supposedly the patents/copyrights that Google allegedly infringed upon. No word on how much Oracle could walk away with, but be sure to check back with us for more updates!