Oracle was initially asking for royalties on every Android device sold, to the tune of billions of dollars. If Google completely loses, it's not clear what kind of damages it will owe Oracle.
This opinion doesn't mean the Supreme Court won't take the case, but it's not a good sign for Google. Getty / Justin Sullivan and Flickr / Morgan Verrilli's involvement in this case was reportedly a political landmine inside the Justice Department, as the Obama administration was torn between which of the two hugely influential tech companies to support.
He suggested that if the Supreme Court wanted to take on the case, it should do so after the lower courts ruled on Google's argument of fair use. Verrilli suggested the Supreme Court skip taking on the case, at least at this time.īut he didn't completely side with Oracle. In a brief filed Tuesday, US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli sided against Google, disagreeing with Google's claim that API's were not entitled to copyright protection. That doctrine allows limited portions of copyrighted material to be used by others.īut before that could be ruled on, Google asked the Supreme Court to take on the case. The next step was for the lower courts to hear Google's next defense: that its use of the Java APIs falls under the "fair use" doctrine. In the end of that first trial, the judge ruled that APIs were not subject to copyright laws.īut Oracle appealed and won, with an appellate court overturning the earlier verdict and saying APIs a re subject to copyright. Oracle sued Google, contending that the APIs were copyrighted and initially asking for $6 billion in damages, but the courts didn't allow that huge amount to stick. Google used Java's APIs to make it easier for millions of Java developers to bring their apps to Android, as they were already trained on Java's APIs. So if the Supreme Court doesn't take the case, Oracle's appeals win could stand for good. At that time, Google called the ruling " a damaging precedent for computer science." Oracle had pulled a shocking win in an appeals court about a year ago. The Supreme Court had asked the Department of Justice to weigh in. The latest thing in Oracle's favor: The Department of Justice has filed an amicus brief siding with Oracle and recommending that the Supreme Court not look at the case (at least not yet).
While Google had initially (mostly) won the first round, the appellate tide is now flowing in Oracle's favor.Īnd the whole computer industry is nervous about it.įor instance, Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist at Andreessen Horowitz, tweeted his displeasure: "Obama administration to programmers: Drop dead!" Oracle filed the suit against Google a few years ago.
#Epic war 5 trial 5 software#
Some computer experts argue, however, that the part Google used should be broadly shared to make it easier to build new software programs. For years, Oracle and Google have been duking it out in a huge lawsuit that could have a big impact on the whole software industry.Īt issue is whether Google illegally copied part of the Android mobile operating system from a technology called Java, which is now owned by Oracle.
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