Oracle told to slim down patent claims against Google

A US district judge has told Oracle to narrow its Android patent claims against Google to a "triable number".

In an order on Tuesday, US district judge William Alsup wrote: "Currently, there are 132 claims from seven patents asserted in this action, and there are hundreds of prior art references in play for invalidity defences. This is too much." Alsup, who is trying to outline a schedule for the trial currently slated for October, said there should be only three claims and eight prior art references placed before the jury.

"Oracle will surrender all of its present infringement claims against Google based on the 129 asserted claims that will not be tried," the judge added. "Oracle may not renew those infringement claims in a subsequent action except as to new products." Oracle first sued Google over its use of Java in Android in August.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Judge tells Oracle, Google to narrow Android patent claims, prior art references on ZDNet.com.