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Oracle sues Google for Java patent, copyright infringement

By | August 12, 2010, 5:32pm PDT

Summary: In a brief press release issued late Thursday afternoon, Oracle said it has filed suit against Google, alleging patent and copyright infringement as part of its development of Android. The company offered no details and the release contained a simple two-sentence quote from Oracle spokesperson Karen Tillman: In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s [...]

In a brief press release issued late Thursday afternoon, Oracle said it has filed suit against Google, alleging patent and copyright infringement as part of its development of Android.

The company offered no details and the release contained a simple two-sentence quote from Oracle spokesperson Karen Tillman:

In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s Java-related intellectual property. This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies for their infringement.

Earlier today, Gartner released data that showed big gains for Android-powered devices and, if it stays on this track, it’s set to surpass Research in Motion and become the No. 2 mobile phone platform, second to Symbian. The company also announced some enhancements to Android today and this week saw the release of its latest smartphone, the Motorola Droid 2 for Verizon Wireless.

Company CEO Eric Schmidt has previously said that about 200,000 Android-powered devices are activated daily.

Oracle said Google is infringing on seven patents. Here’s the complaint via CNet News:

Oracle’s complaint against Google for Java patent infringement

See also:

  • Oracle sues Google: Looking for a piece of the mobile pie
  • Oracle uses James Gosling patent to attack Google and Android developers
  • Oracle sues Google: titanic clash over Java platform looms

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    Google Inc., Patent, Oracle Corp., Copyright Infringement, Sam Diaz

    Sam has been a technology and business blogger for more than 18 years.

    Disclosure

    Sam Diaz

    Sam Diaz has nothing to disclose.

    Biography

    Sam Diaz

    Sam has been a technology and business blogger, reporter and editor at ZDNet, the Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News and Fresno Bee for more than 18 years. He's a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and a graduate of California State University, Fresno.

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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    tomlin21-24319035676893835085146735905770 11th Oct
    I believed it had been likely to be some uninteresting older short article, but mulberry purses it primarily compensated for my time.
    View in thread
    0 Votes
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    Seems like the lawsuit that was done against Microsoft...
    Roque Mocan 12th Aug 2010
    For not being a "pure" Java...
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    Linux Geek 13th Aug 2010
    @Roque Mocan
    Friday, 13th 2010...a day that will live in infamy!
    I think M$ is uncorking the champagne over this GPL v3 debacle.
    0 Votes
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    oops, told ya so
    banned from zdnet Updated - 12th Aug 2010
    Larry & Sergey, your short run ripping others off will soon be over! don't mess with the big boys!! copying iOS and hoping to get away with it is not a receipt for success.

    apple will have a lawsuit with htc soon and now oracle with google.

    android is dead.
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    dcfan1 12th Aug 2010
    @banned from zdnet

    copying iOS? my goodness, get a grip on yourself !
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    storm14k 12th Aug 2010
    @banned from zdnet

    iFools may want to sit this one out. Your favorite company Apple is not a software engineering company and much of this will be over your heads.
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    rikasa 12th Aug 2010
    @banned from zdnet

    why your persistent drivel has not resulted in you from actually being banned from zdnet never ceases to amaze me
    0 Votes
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    It's because...
    wolf_z 13th Aug 2010
    @rikasa

    The editors of ZDNet can point to him and say "see, we *don't* censor!" happy
    0 Votes
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    As Java goes so goes Oracle...
    storm14k 12th Aug 2010
    Oracle will pretty much kill Java now whether they win or loose this. Either way those that opposed Oracle buying Sun can now say they were right. It almost shows you Oracles whole plan. They want to lock down Java in some monolithic stack where you have to come to Oracle for everything. They basically said that from the get go. Well of course if they did people would simply run to things like OpenJDK/IcedTea and now with Android's success Dalvik. And since Dalvik seems to be the furthest away from Java I'm sure thats where many would run first. So Oracle is attacking them first to try and close that door.

    As for this being similar to the MS suit I don't think so. MS basically created an incompatible version of Java and called it Java with the intent of locking people into their version and killing it. Google has made no claims to my knowledge that they are using Java. The have always called it Dalvik and said that is uses the Java syntax. In no way have they made it seem that you are developing pure Java.
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    Roque Mocan 12th Aug 2010
    @storm14k
    At the time, Microsoft's Java was the most compliant and fastest (it had Anders Helsberg behind it), but there were compiler options to optimize for Windows and they were the defaults. I think that was the reason for the Microsoft suit.
    0 Votes
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    No, MS deliberately shipped something not 100% compatible with Java spec
    Zogg 13th Aug 2010
    @Roque Mocan

    Here's a link to an article from the time:
    http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-10-1997/jw-10-lawsuit.html

    The relevant part is "Specifically, Microsoft made the choice last week to ship products it claims are fully Java 1.1 compliant, but which failed to pass the Java 1.1 compatibility tests the company received from Sun in February. "
    0 Votes
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    Android predicted to outsell iPhone, I think not says Jobs ...
    Lepsa 12th Aug 2010
    Hey isn't Oracle CEO Larry Ellison best friends with Steve Jobs? I think so ... and I think I smell desperation on Apple's side ... http://www.peoplesoft-planet.com/Larry-Ellison-Discusses-Steve-Jobs-In-Interview.html
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    storm14k 12th Aug 2010
    @Lepsa I bet they won't be friends after he realizes this is going to sink Oracle and not Google.
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    anothercanuck 12th Aug 2010
    Sounds to me that Oracle bought Sun for its patents, to use against companies with money. They likely have no plans to further develop any of Sun's products.

    I guess this was bound to happen, companies buying companies, not to enhance their offerings, or widen their market coverage, but for patents. I suppose a few good lawyers are more economical, with a better rate of return, than actually producing, marketing and selling things that are useful.
    Unfortunately, as more and more companies jump on the patent bandwagon, there becomes less companies willing to risk doing anything new for fear of being sued.

    I think it is time do away with the archaic patent system, and find a fair way to protect IP, a system designed for the software world, not the hardware world. In fact, the concept of software had not even been in a science fiction story at the time the patent system was created.

    Its on par with regulating aircraft using horse laws.
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    storm14k 12th Aug 2010
    @anothercanuck

    I really don't understand how the can make a patent claim on GPLed software for a company using it under those conditions. Its free to use modify and distribute even if that means only a piece of your code or even just part of the ideas end up in another product thats still free to use modify and redistribute.

    Honestly I think they have shot themselves in the foot. Win or loose how are the open source projects that basically make Java what it is today going to feel about Oracle now?
    0 Votes
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    Java has never been under GPL
    wolf_z 13th Aug 2010
    @storm14k

    IIRC, Sun had their own license for Java, and it was nowhere near as permissive as the GPL.
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    linux for me 13th Aug 2010
    @wolf_z

    Sun released Java as GPL...refer to ZDNET article:

    http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/did-sun-do-right-by-java/839

    So I don't see how Oracle can win tis lawsuit if Java is now open source and anyone can make their own distribution of Java if they so desired.

    Microsoft lost their lawsuit because Java was proprietary at the time they modified the code, which was illegal.

    Oracle will lose big time here.
    0 Votes
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    So this is why you bought Sun? To become a patent troll???!?
    Dealing 13th Aug 2010
    ni
    0 Votes
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    googletards here at zdnet
    banned from zdnet 13th Aug 2010
    ... face the truth. this one is gonna be big. apple and oracle against google and htc. the short run of the patent infringing, shameless and blatant copy of iOS is about to be over. this will be interesting to watch.
    0 Votes
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    Ellison
    sys_engineer 13th Aug 2010
    Ellison is a megalomaniac that needs to be taken down a few notches. I worked in a fortune 500 company and we are moving away from Oracle (dbms, weblogic, ..etc) due to cost and bugs. Oracle's business practices are predatory and frankly the software quality has been slipping. I think that if we knew what we know now about ASM+RAC, we would have rethought our entire database strategy.
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    Patently067 26th Aug 2010
    Just another perspective on the case about the strength and visibility into the patents involved in the case. There is reason to believe that the case is not as strong and it may seem.
    http://patentlyobvious.m-cam.com/blog/?p=172
    0 Votes
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    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
    Magnificent Weblog I certainly just like the lay out along football shop with the color scheme could it be probable to get a duplicate inside your concept?
    0 Votes
    + -
    RE: Oracle sues Google for patent, copyright infringement
    tomlin21-24319035676893835085146735905770 11th Oct
    I believed it had been likely to be some uninteresting older short article, but mulberry purses it primarily compensated for my time.

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