For those who might have been following the news, you guys are probably aware that one of the more prominent legal battles currently waged is between Oracle and Google, with the former accusing the latter of copyright infringement pertaining to Google’s Android mobile operating system. Well it looks like that legal battle could almost be over as the jury has come forward with a decision that ultimately stated that they did not find Google guilty of infringing upon Oracle’s patents.Prior to this, the jury had found Google guilty of infringing upon Oracle’s copyrights, but they were ultimately unable to arrive at the conclusion as to whether the copyrighted material was covered under “fair use”. While this is certainly a victory for Google, there are other issues still at large, such as Judge Alsup’s ruling (which he will be giving next week) as to whether the SSO of Java’s API can be copyrighted in the first place. Should the judge find that the SSO is not covered by copyright law, Oracle will receive statutory damages from Google for the rangeCheck and test file usage which will cost $150,000 per infringement count. Alternatively if the judge were to rule that the SSO is covered by copyright law, the copyright infringement counts will be bundled together and dealt with in a new trial.
Both Oracle and Google have issued statements with regards to the outcome of the jury’s verdict:
Oracle:
Oracle presented overwhelming evidence at trial that Google knew it would fragment and damage Java. We plan to continue to defend and uphold Java’s core write once run anywhere principle and ensure it is protected for the nine million Java developers and the community that depend on Java compatibility.
Google:
Today’s jury verdict that Android does not infringe Oracle’s patents was a victory not just for Google but the entire Android ecosystem.
Filed in . Read more about Android, Google, Legal and Oracle.