Jury finds that Android does not infringe on Oracle's patents
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The trial was scheduled to have a third phase where the jury would assess damages to be awarded to Oracle, but Oracle won nothing in the copyright phase that would be worth more than statutory damages (that’s about $150,000 for those of you keeping track), and nothing at all in the patent phase, so there is no longer a reason to have a damages portion of the trial. Judge Alsup still needs to write up his ruling on whether or not APIs can even be copyrighted – if he finds that they can’t be then Oracle will lose most or all of that $150 grand; either way it’s a far cry from the billions of dollars that Oracle had claimed they were going to win last year.
There is already spin coming from both sides. Google released a statement stating:
Oracle, who is trying to maintain appearances in the face of such a clear legal defeat, released the following statement:
We're sure to see many more "experts" weigh in on the subject in coming days. Oracle-sponsored patent blogger Florian Mueller has already written a long post about how the issue is “far from over”, and while his write up is predictably skewed, in general he is almost certainly correct; Oracle will undoubtedly appeal the findings on both the patent and copyright phase (especially if Judge Alsup rules that APIs cannot be copyrighted), and we can expect this to go on for another year or two – in fact the issue of software interface copyrights is so important to the entire industry we wouldn’t be surprised if the issue eventually lands before the U.S. Supreme Court.
That doesn’t make this a meaningless verdict however; a loss could have opened Google up to major damages and at least the threat of an injunction. Perhaps more importantly, it would have given Android a presumption of guilt and thrown some uncertainty about its future into the plans of OEMs looking to make smartphones. Instead Android will now enjoy an enhanced presumption of stability and legal independence. It will also give Google the upper hand in any further attempts to reach a settlement between them and Oracle.
sources: Ginny LaRoe, Groklaw, FOSS Patents
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34 Comments
31. anywherehome posted on 24 May 2012, 00:02 1 0
YES!! they wanted just to intimidate big open source manufacturers because it is killing Apple's and Microsoft's closed ecosystem and dictatorship......and they know open source with big supporters (Google, Samsung, HTC, ...) will kill it soon or later.....democracy wins here, thank you
6. Carlitos posted on 23 May 2012, 14:17 5 0
Two great news in one week! Google is prob celebrating like its New years.
7. Sniggly posted on 23 May 2012, 14:24 12 2
f**king. STOMPED.
Down goes the patent troll.
I think we should arrange a parade to drive past Oracle's headquarters, composed entirely of giant pairs of hands formed into the "flip off" position, with Android robots between them, and blaring "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions" on repeat. :D
15. troybuilt posted on 23 May 2012, 15:44 6 0
LOL! More like "right uppercut to the PA troll and down he goes for the 10 count" Was an instant KO.... Owned! Android is the WINNER!!
We are the champions my friends. And we'll keep on fighting till the end. Nice one Sniggly!
16. Sniggly posted on 23 May 2012, 15:53 6 0
Lol, thanks man! I'm tempted to make a gif of flip offs and send it to Oracles CEO. :D
22. troybuilt posted on 23 May 2012, 16:47 4 0
lol. or a pair of new pants to replace the recently stained ones
8. ilia1986 posted on 23 May 2012, 14:30 3 2
Java... Should have just stayed in Star Wars.. :P
9. ZEUS.the.thunder.god posted on 23 May 2012, 14:33 5 1
wow. it made my day. now i really hope to hear same kinda news in SAMMY vs apple trial.
12. mas11 posted on 23 May 2012, 14:50 6 0
Justice! That's one bs lawsuit down countless others to go.
13. Droid_X_Doug posted on 23 May 2012, 14:51 7 0
Larry shoulda taken the Google settlement offer.... Instead, he went for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And got exactly that - nothing.
I wonder if he still has the appetite to enforce the rest of Oracle's patent portfolio?
14. Whateverman posted on 23 May 2012, 14:57 5 0
Maybe Oracle should have taken that $3 million Google offered them for that patent they didn't infringe on, huh?
18. SuperEd posted on 23 May 2012, 16:17 0 13
Unfortunately, this type of deliberation was more likely than not, subject matter that was so far above the pedestrian intellect of the jury, that they just took the easy route and said not guilty. Oh, and probably each of them have Andriod phones.
20. Sniggly posted on 23 May 2012, 16:22 8 0
What Ted said.
You do understand the concept that Oracle is a giant patent troll, right? And that Sun had no issue with Google using Java based software, and that Sun's president/CEO had written a letter praising Google's development of Android? And that Oracle tried to destroy the evidence by deleting that blog entry of his?
23. InspectorGadget80 posted on 23 May 2012, 19:22 3 1
FINALLY SOME GOOD NEWS FOR ONCE!!! TAKE THAT ORACLE. Everyone is being greedy thinking they can take free money from GOOGLE just because Apple said their copying from their iPHONE.
25. kanagadeepan posted on 23 May 2012, 20:16 3 0
Don't be EVIL, ORACLE.... Even James Gosling, father of Java left you to Google, all due to YOUR EVIL UN-ETHICAL DEEDS...
26. rudlie posted on 23 May 2012, 20:32 0 2
not finish yet. API issues still in progress. as java professional I fully understand that google still infringed that issues.
29. phitch posted on 23 May 2012, 22:14 2 0
Yeah.... totally infringed what was it 100 something lines of API out of the 2 Million in Android? Holy hell what assholes! Also, don't proclaim yourselves the kings of "write once, run anywhere" when people use you and you just sue. Also... Sun had no issues with Android, Oracle had nothing to do with Java... hence, Oracle bought Sun to acquire Java simply to sue Google.
27. networkdood posted on 23 May 2012, 20:54 2 0
Does this mean that Oracle will be for sale soon?
33. netizen posted on 24 May 2012, 05:18 1 0
If Sun had no problem (THEY never sued) with what Google did, why should Oracle who BOUGHT Sun? Unless of course they are patent trolling....
I used to have a pretty good opinion of Sun... now they remind me of Apple!! Ugggh!!
34. tedkord posted on 24 May 2012, 06:48 1 0
There's an article at Ars, an interview with the jury foreman, and he said Oracle never came close to proving patent infringement. At one point, he was the only juror who voted guilty.
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