Google didn't infringe on Oracle patents, jury rules

Oracle was seeking more than $1 billion in damages from Google for the use of Java in its Android software.

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Agence France-Presse

Wed, May 23 2012 at 2:20 PM

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Green Business, Computers, Android, Google, Technology

Photo: Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP

SAN FRANCISCO — A jury on May 23 declared Google innocent of infringing on Java patents in a high-stakes court battle pitting the business software titan Oracle against the Internet giant.

In a unanimous decision, ten jurors agreed that Oracle had not proven any of its claims that Google infringed on Java patents in the Android operating software for smartphones and tablet computers.

"We are grateful for the jury's verdict," lead Google attorney Robert Van Nest said as he left the courtroom, declining to say anything more.

The head of the Oracle legal team smiled tightly as he left court but would not comment on the verdict.

The jury verdict derailed Oracle's quest to get more than a billion dollars in damages from Google.

Oracle accused Google of infringing on Java computer programming language patents and copyrights Oracle obtained when it bought Java inventor Sun Microsystems in a $7.4 billion deal in 2009.

Google has denied the claims and said it believes mobile phone makers and other users of its open-source Android operating system are entitled to use the Java technology in dispute.

The Internet titan unveiled the free Android operating system two years before Oracle bought Sun.