The Oracle vs. Google trial: updates, analysis, testimony, and more – The Verge

Supreme Court sides with Google in Oracle’s API copyright case

2021-04-05T10:13:32-04:00

Supreme Court 1 (Verge Stock)

In a ruling on Monday, the Supreme Court found that Google could legally use elements of Oracle's Java application programming interface (API) code when building Android.

"Google's copying of the API to reimplement a user interface, taking only what was needed to allow users to put their accrued talents to work in a new and transformative program, constituted a fair use of that material," the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-2 opinion, with one justice (Amy Coney Barrett) not taking part in the ruling. It overturned an earlier federal decision, which found that Google's use of the API had constituted infringement.

"Google's copying of the API…con …

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Oracle and Google’s Supreme Court showdown was a battle of metaphors

2020-10-09T10:15:02-04:00

Google v. Oracle, a decade-long war over the future of software, neared its end in the Supreme Court this week as a battle of metaphors. Over the course of two hours, justices and attorneys compared Java - the coding language that Oracle acquired in 2010 - to a restaurant menu, a hit song, a football team, an accounting system, the instructions for finding a blend of spices in a grocery store, a safecracking manual, and the QWERTY keyboard layout.

"Prediction: The side that wins the metaphor battle will win the case," tweeted University of Oklahoma College of Law professor Sarah Burstein.

The reliance on familiar analogies wasn't necessari …

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The Supreme Court is taking on Google and Oracle one last time

2020-10-06T18:08:53-04:00

Ten years after Oracle first sued Google over the code in the Android platform, the two tech giants are finally facing off in the Supreme Court. Since then, there have been three trials and two appeals. Billions of dollars are at stake; many millions have been likely spent on a parade of seasoned litigators, expert witnesses, and bizarre trial exhibits intended to explain programming to non-technical juries. All this may be coming to an anticlimactic close on Wednesday morning, with a teleconference Supreme Court oral argument in the middle of a pandemic.

When Google first developed Android, it decided to make the mobile platform compatible …

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Supreme Court declines to hear Oracle v. Google case over software copyright

2015-06-29T09:57:01-04:00

The Supreme Court has declined to hear Oracle v. Google, sending the long-running case back to a lower court where Google will have to argue that it made fair use of Oracle's copyrighted APIs. This has been a closely watched case, as the final decision could have a major impact on software development; a ruling in favor of Oracle, the Electronic Frontier Foundation says, could give certain tech firms "unprecedented and dangerous power" over developers by making it substantially more difficult for upstarts to create new software. That'll be the case unless fair use laws turn out to protect the use of APIs.

The case centers on the code behind …

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The Oracle v. Google case may go to the Supreme Court

2014-10-09T15:44:24-04:00

The Oracle v. Google clash of the titans has been dragging on for years now, but the case may soon be over: Google has filed a petition for the US Supreme Court to make a final ruling, with huge implications for the tech world.

The case centers around Android

The case centers around Android - specifically, whether Google infringed on Oracle copyright by using Oracle-owned Java APIs in the operating system without permission. There's legal minutiae abound here, but to put it simply, Google has argued that the APIs are simply a means of working with systems and can't be copyrighted, while Oracle says its code is an original, copyrightable work …

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Federal court overturns Google v. Oracle decision, setting disastrous precedent

2014-05-09T13:53:34-04:00

Today, a federal court overturned an earlier ruling that allowed Google rights to build Oracle's Java API into Android, setting a broad precedent that already has many legal scholars crying foul. If the ruling stands, it will give software companies copyright over their APIs, the interfaces that programs use to communicate with each other. The new standard is good news for Oracle, which holds the rights to Java and its widely used API, but potentially disastrous for software developers that want to build software based on existing APIs. The result could force new services may be forced to start from scratch.

Potentially disastrous for softwa …

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Oracle to pay Google $1.13m in legal costs following failed Android lawsuit

2012-09-05T08:40:46-04:00

Oracle logo (STOCK)

Oracle has been ordered to pay Google $1,130,350 in legal costs following the broad failure of its long-running patent and copyright infringement lawsuit over Android. Google had originally asked for more than $4 million to cover the total costs of the quixotic suit, including significant fees for a third-party e-discovery service paid to surface and copy relevant documents. While the payment was cut back by Judge William Alsup, he was unequivocal in declaring Google the "prevailing party" in the case, and used the ruling to criticize Oracle's lawyers for "craft[ing] broad, and ultimately overreaching, claims of copyright infringement."

Jud …

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Google discloses paid bloggers and journalists, says Stanford professor Mark Lemley is outside counsel

2012-08-27T11:31:03-04:00

Google logo

Google has followed up with a judge's order to disclose anyone it might have paid to influence coverage of its trial against Oracle, and the list includes a well-known Stanford professor who is often quoted without mentioning his relationship to Google. Google had initially told the court it hadn't paid anyone to comment on the case, but the judge ruled Google had "failed to comply" with his request and ordered the company to provide a more detailed list.

All these patent lawsuits have led to increased demand for expert analysis - and potential conflicts of interest

Google opens the new filing by continuing to insist that "neither it nor its …

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Judge: Google ‘failed to comply’ with order to disclose paid journalists and bloggers

2012-08-20T13:18:53-04:00

Google Nexus logo (STOCK)

Earlier this month Judge William Alsup ordered Oracle and Google to disclose any journalists or bloggers either has paid that could have commented on the Oracle v. Google case. Both parties responded last week - but Judge Alsup didn't think Google was completely forthright, and has asked the company to try again by the end of the week.

In a order filed today, Alsup flatly states that "Google has failed to comply" with his original request. Google had said in its initial response that the company hadn't "paid an author, journalist, commentator or blogger to report or comment on any issues in this case" - a definition that Alsup clearly felt …

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Oracle tells court patent blogger Florian Mueller is a ‘consultant,’ Google says it doesn’t pay to influence media

2012-08-17T16:54:01-04:00

florian mueller

Oracle has admitted to the court that it retains the frequently-cited Florian Mueller of the popular blog FOSS Patents as a consultant. The official disclosure comes a week after the judge in Oracle's lawsuit against Google took the extraordinary step of ordering both parties to reveal any paid journalists or bloggers on their payrolls. Both companies filed their responses today, and Mueller is the only person named in either filing.

"Mr. Mueller is a frequent critic of Oracle."

Oracle notes in the filing that Mueller has previously disclosed his relationship with Oracle, and says that it retained Mueller only as a consultant on "competition …

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