Oracle – which started the trial at an advantage with the judge explaining that it had already been established that Google had infringed Oracle’s copyrights – will probably appeal, though legal experts said overturning a jury verdict will be hard.
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The case, which has dragged on for six years, could have cost Google as much as $9 billion in damages had it lost.
Dorian Daley, Oracle’s general counsel, said the company planned to appeal the verdict. Google had argued its use of the Java code was protected by fair use rules and the company didn’t need to purchase a license for Java’s open source software.
The case had previously been to trial in 2012, but that ended in a deadlocked jury.
Oracle sought billions in damages from Google over the search engine company’s use of Java programming language in its Android smartphone operating system.
Back in 2014, it was ruled in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals that the Java APIs in questions did, indeed, deserve copyright protection.
Oracle bought Java when it purchased Sun Microsystems and started a law suit against Google over the APIs in 2010.
One possible reason Google is off the hook: It only used a little bit of Oracle’s code.
Google’s use of Oracle’s Java APIs in Android qualifies as fair use, a jury decided in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, marking the second time Google has prevailed in a case that dates back to 2010. Alphabet’s Google unit had said that it should be able to use Java without paying a fee under fair use.
At least, that’s what Google told the jury in closing arguments.
In a statement on the courtroom victory, Google’s legal team simply said it was grateful for the jury’s verdict, but now it will have to face the reality of an appeal by Oracle.
Oracle has vowed to appeal the decision.
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The court fight hinged in large part on archived emails sent by Android founder Andy Rubin, who continued to develop the operating system after it was acquired by Google in 2005. Google’s appeal to the Supreme Court was declined.
