The major Internet search company, Google, never infringed Oracle’s patents when it created its popular Android software for mobile devices. This was the finding of the federal jury assigned to decide on Oracle’s case against Google.
By finding for Google, the jury dealt a humiliating blow to Oracle. The world’s largest manufacturer of data storage programs had accused Google of creating an Android system based on Oracle’s Java programming, which is patented and subject to copyright. Oracle inherited the rights to buy Sun Microsystems Java in 2010 for 7.3 million.
The verdict was reported about two weeks after the same jury, with two more members, could not reach agreement on a fundamental point in the case of Oracle against Google for alleged copyright violation. As a result, Google was subject to a maximum payment of only $150,000 in damages and not the hundreds of millions of dollars as requested by Oracle in its complaint affidavit.
The federal district judge William Alsup dissolved the jury and canceled the damages phase which were tentatively planned. If Oracle had been able to seek payment of damages, they could have spread some confidential documents which could have swayed the jury’s decision.
The conflict between the two giants of Silicon Valley has ended for now.
