Google Beats Oracle Over $9b Java War

Google Beats Oracle Over $9b Java War

Google GOOG 0.22% began incorporating features from Java into Android in 2007, the same year the mobile operating system was publicly unveiled. At the time, Java was owned by Sun Microsystems. After acquiring Sun in 2010, Oracle ORCL -0.70% asked that Google pay licensing fees, pointing toward 37 separate API packages that it said Google had implemented. When the two couldn’t come to terms, Oracle sued Google for using these APIs without permission.

 Oracle argued that Google stole its intellectual property, costing it billions of dollars in lost opportunity in the mobile phone market. Google argued that its implementation of Java APIs fall under U.S. copyright laws for fair use, which permits limited use of copyrighted material without licensing for creative, educational, and other purposes.

“We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market,” said Oracle General Counsel Dorian Daley in a statement issued after the verdict. “Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Google’s illegal behavior. We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal and we plan to bring this case back to the Federal Circuit on appeal.”

Oracle had sought more than $9 billion in damages from Google if it won this go-around.

After deliberating for roughly three days, the jury responded unanimously that Google had adhered to the law.

However, even with today’s verdict, this verdict is unlikely to be the end of the fight as most case followers suspect it will likely return to the appeals court. Depending on the winner of that outcome, either party could even make another bid to be heard by the Supreme Court.

“Today’s verdict that Android makes fair use of Java APIs represents a win for the Android ecosystem, for the Java programming community, and for software developers who rely on open and free programming languages to build innovative consumer products,” said a Google spokesperson.

“I know there will be appeals and the like,” said Judge William Alsup to attorneys for both sides of the courtroom after the jury was dismissed. Alsup also gave the courtroom a 30 minute recess as a time to let the verdict “sink in” before discussing further proceedings