oracle v. google

Jury verdict: Android doesn't infringe Oracle's patents

SAN FRANCISCO--A jury today unanimously decided that Google did not infringe on two of Oracle's patents.

In the decision at the U.S. District Court of Northern California, the jury in the trial said Google did not infringe on six claims in U.S. Patent No. RE38,104 as well as two claims in U.S. Patent No. 6,061,520.

The verdict is a win for Google, and marks the end of the trial's second phase, which focused on the claims of patent infringement. Closing arguments in the case were made last week. After the decision, a … Read more

Oracle-Google jury stymied by more technical questions

SAN FRANCISCO -- Nearly a week into deliberations in the patent phase of the Oracle v. Google lawsuit, the 10-person jury seems to be mired in technical aspects of the patent dispute, prompting a mild complaint directed at the lawyers from an obviously exasperated judge today.

After drumming up his best answer to the latest of a series of jury questions this week, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court of Northern California seemed to lose patience with the proceedings. "That's the best I can do. This is not easy for me. It's not easy … Read more

Google officially closes $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility deal

After waiting months for the go-ahead to say so, Google CEO Larry Page today announced that his company now officially owns Motorola Mobility.

Google announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in August. Upon doing so, the companies had to clear regulatory hurdles to get the deal done. Regulators in both the U.S. and the European Union approved the acquisition back in February, but the companies were forced to wait for China. Over the weekend, China approved the deal, paving the way for Google to close it.

As part of the acquisition, Page announced today that … Read more

Oracle-Google: Another juror falls as impasse looms (again)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Rather than 12 Angry Men, proceedings in Oracle v. Google are starting to play out more like And Then There Were None.

That's because the jury lost another member on Friday morning, bringing the total count to five men and five women. The trial originally started with 12 people in April: five men and seven women.

The juror that was dismissed on Friday complained the day before that she had come down with a cold. Although she was originally instructed to try to show up at the U.S. District Court of Northern California on Friday … Read more

Oracle, Google lawyers outline potential trial roadmap

SAN FRANCISCO -- At the request of Judge William Alsup, Oracle and Google attorneys hammered out a brief that outlines where the trial could go from here on matters concerning copyright infringement.

Both legal teams arrived to the U.S. District Court of Northern California her early this morning, discussing (and sometimes arguing in heated whispers) about the nuts and bolts of the stipulation, which can be read below.

Reading more like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game, there are several possibilities as to where the case could go from here, including up and down the appeals chain … Read more

Oracle could end up with nothing in its Java suit, judge warns

SAN FRANCISCO -- If the Oracle v. Google trial wasn't a mess before, it has certainly evolved into a tangled, tangled web at this point.

It's becoming more about what the judge has to decide rather than what the jury must decide, including if APIs are copyrightable, Google's motion for a mistrial on phase one dealing with copyrights, and putting off the third phase on damages altogether. Given that we're still waiting for decisions on all of these things, the schedule and future of this trial becoming increasingly unclear.

Legal teams from both sides of the … Read more

Google sums up: No 'shred of evidence' for patent claim

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google's counsel followed up with its closing statements in phase two of its legal battle against Oracle at the U.S. District Court of Northern California on Tuesday morning.

Attorney Robert Van Nest delivered closing arguments on behalf of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company, starting off by reminding the jury that "this case is not about Java versus Android."

With that in mind, Van Nest outlined Google's three core points in its case:

Google made "fundamentally different design choices for Android" without any specific knowledge of Sun Microsystems's … Read more

Oracle sums up: Google chose 'reckless' infringement

UPDATED at 11:40 a.m. PT

SAN FRANCISCO -- Closing arguments in the second phase of Oracle v. Google were presented on Tuesday morning, commencing with the plaintiff, Oracle.

Court proceedings actually started approximately 45 minutes late at the U.S. District Court of Northern California as one juror was late due to car trouble on the San Francisco Bay Bridge. After she informed the court via telephone that she would not be able to make it at all on Tuesday, Judge William Alsup dismissed her from the jury altogether. That brings the total jury count to six women … Read more

Oracle v. Google trial gets messier as damages phase looms

SAN FRANCISCO--Over the weekend, attorneys for both Oracle and Google filed several motions that could either speed up the case here at the U.S. District Court of Northern California or plunge it into a much longer, messier trial.

One of the more noteworthy points was to move the debate of "patent infringement willfulness" into the second phase of the trial going on right now. Interestingly, this looks like one area where both sides of the courtroom appeared to agree -- at least when it comes to timing.

A long story short: The court will address the issue … Read more

Against judge's advice, Oracle goes after infringed profits

SAN FRANCISCO--In a last-ditch effort to save any face (or money) in this trial, Oracle is rolling the dice on obtaining damages from Google -- even going so far as to ignore advice from the judge.

Judge William Alsup warned yesterday that the most Oracle would probably be able to claim on copyright infringement would be $150,000 in statutory damages.

However, attorney Michael Jacobs, from Morrison and Foerster, informed the judge that Oracle is not electing statutory damages on copyright claims.

Instead, Oracle is going with an infringer's profit case. Although Alsup previously lambasted that idea, he changed … Read more