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LEGAL NEWSLINE

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Jury: Google didn't infringe on Oracle's patents

SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California decided Wednesday that the search engine giant Google did not infringe on patents owned by Oracle.

There is an issue about copyright infringement pending. The court asked for briefs on copyright issues regarding interfaces, exceptions and interoperability. The judge said he will rule next week about this.

But the larger claims of patent infringement for the patents Oracle obtained after it bought Sun Microsystems' Java was not proven by Oracle.

A statement was issued by Oracle that it presented evidence indicating that Google knew it would damage Java. The company said it will continue to defend the software.

The complaint filed by Oracle said Google's Android competed with Oracle's Java as an operating system for cell phones and Smartphones. Since Android uses Java applications, Oracle claimed that Google infringed on the patents they acquired from Sun Microsystems - as well as the copyrights.

Two copyright liability theories have been asserted by Oracle. One is a direct infringement claim and the other is for indirect infringement, including vicarious and contributory infringement. Oracle must establish - for contributory infringement - that Google knew or had reason to know of the infringing activity of others; and that Google intentionally or materially contributed to the infringing activity.

Oracle maintains that the evidence will show that Google requires mobile manufacturers to include the applications being disputed on their devices as part of its licensing terms, and has profited handsomely from the infringing activity.

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