Google Could Lose Up To $6.1 Billion In Oracle Patent Lawsuit Over Android

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oracle is seeking between $1.4 billion and $6.1 billion in a patent lawsuit against Google over the lucrative smartphone market, according to a court filing.

Oracle sued Google last year, claiming the Web search company's Android mobile operating technology infringes upon Oracle's Java patents.

Oracle bought the Java programing language through its acquisition of Sun Microsystems in January 2010.

A U.S. judge this week ordered Google to make public parts of a court filing that contains details about Oracle's damage claims. Google complied with that order on Friday, and revealed the damages range sought by Oracle.

Google disputes the Oracle damages amount in the court filing, calling it "a breathtaking figure that is out of proportion to any meaningful measure of the intellectual property at issue."

Representatives for both companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Oracle America, Inc v. Google Inc, 10-3561.

(Reporting by Dan Levine; editing by Todd Eastham)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions

Comments

[slumlord420]

02:09 PM on 06/20/2011

Google, you sent my son an email on May 4 telling him he was one of the doodle4google winners. Where is his promised prize?

[mountainweb]

08:01 AM on 06/20/2011

So now if anyone uses the Java language to write a program, Oracle can sue them. Total stupidity. Time to stop the "make money by suing people" mindset. Suit should be tossed..

[DogWoodDaze]

08:06 AM on 06/20/2011

The intellectual property belongs to Oracle. Using it without licensing it is stealing. Get it?

[larus]

10:08 AM on 06/20/2011

yes indeed

[jsarets]

10:16 AM on 06/20/2011

That's not the issue here. Oracle has no problem with anyone writing software for the Java platform. Could they technically argue that a program running on Java infringes any and all patents related to Java? That's a tricky question. Patent law is screwed up to the point where a clever lawyer might be able to make that case. But Oracle would never do that.

The problem here is that Google implemented their own version of Java. They developed their own compiler, bytecode, virtual machine, and class library.  The language syntax and semantics are the same, but everything underneath is different, and because of the Android-specific class library, standard Java code may not be compatible with Android (and vice versa).

Other projects have reverse-engineered Java, for example GNU Classpath and Apache Harmony (which was the progenitor of Android's class library). Sun or Oracle almost certainly could have sued them for patent infringement, but they chose not to. My educated guess is that they weren't terribly bothered by alternative implementations of Java that aimed for 100% compatibility but would never really achieve a practical level of compatibility.

What has Oracle in a tizzy is that Google is not aiming for compatibility with legacy Java code. They're creating their own platform, they're asking developers to build new software for this platform, and they're succeeding. Google is fragmenting the Java ecosystem, and if Oracle doesn't do anything, they risk Android Java becoming the de facto standard Java. 

Software patents are like nuclear weapons. Big vendors build up an arsenal to deter other big vendors from challenging their strategic interests and to trample on the self-determination of small vendors. But even though disagreements and competitive tensions are inevitable, they don't enter the launch codes unless there's an existential threat.

The reality of the software industry is that everybody is guilty of numerous patent infringements. It's just impossible for the industry to work as the law envisions. But the vast majority of patent infringements are tolerated by the patent holder. They can't fight every transgression.

The way software patents work in practice is that patent holders wait until a disruptive product gains market traction, and then they pounce. Oracle is going to win this case or extract a settlement. You can't throw a rock in Silicon Valley without hitting someone who is infringing Java patents. Google is guilty of having threatened Oracle's strategic interests enough to get called on it.

[zSpin2001]

11:45 PM on 06/20/2011

Yeah. The company that has the rumored credo 'don't be evil' is turning into Microsoft.

[nhfarmer]

07:41 AM on 06/20/2011

One human owns farmland and openly allows a group of farmers to use the land for free to grow food for the community, and make a small profit to survive hard times. After ten years, the human owner sells the land to another human. The new owning human immediately sues the farmers. The farmers all go bankrupt and move away. Food for the community disappears.

When will humans learn that they have invented an unsustainable system of ownership and sale of private property?

When a patent owner openly and willingly permits its patent to be used freely by others, the patent should, by law, be automatically placed in the public domain, and unaffected by future sale. Patent reform is required if humans are to advance technology.

[Toni Rudolf Vlaic]

05:23 AM on 06/20/2011

I wonder how this will turn out

[jimbob1234]

02:52 AM on 06/20/2011

Good that is less they can give to obamama

[DogWoodDaze]

08:07 AM on 06/20/2011

Second that

[cadawa]

01:01 AM on 06/20/2011

Larry Ellison loves a good fight. He has an amazing ego.

[Peter Combs]

12:22 AM on 06/20/2011

The suit will likely end in a settlement of under 500 Million (many think as low as 100 Million), which is peanuts for Google, they are sitting on around 30 Billion in cash.

Big headlines do get attention though.

[nixrox04]

09:43 PM on 06/19/2011

Both of them are waayyyy too big and getting out of control....and greedy.

[EcnelisDoogod]

09:37 PM on 06/19/2011

Google's making the world more accountable and transparent. Oracle? Well I think we know the side to which side it aligns itself... patent trolling.

[Phong Le]

10:52 PM on 06/19/2011

And yet, Google will bid 900 Million to own a trove of Nortel patents. If it wins the Nortel auction, will Google gift those patents to the public domain? I doubt it. Google will use it to start trolling itself. The irony!

[The Jesus]

11:41 PM on 06/19/2011

Not necessarily. Google will probably not gift those patents, and they shouldn't because that would actually harm the public.

Large companies (Google, MS, IBM) hold a massive patent portfolio and use it to cross-license patents with other large companies. It is also used as a defensive weapon (if you sure me for infringing on your patent, I will do the same, because you're very likely infringing on my 10,000 patents).

You usually don't see Google suing small companies, and the same is true for Microsoft and IBM. These companies control so many patents everybody could be infringing on them.

No, enter the Patent Trolls. These guys don't have to worry at all about what the other party has in terms of patents. The troll operates through a shell company and has absolutely nothing to lose and all to gain.

The bottom line is, the patent system in the US requires a serious overhaul.

[any mouse]

01:31 AM on 06/20/2011

Google will probably use the patents similar to the way MS, HP, IBM and several others use them, as bargaining chips when companies like Oracle file nuisance law suits against them.

[cadawa]

01:10 AM on 06/20/2011

They are also compromising your privacy. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178361/States_launch_joint_probe_of_Google_Wi_Fi_snooping?taxonomyId=144
This link gives discusses collection of information about your interests for targeted advertising. It also gives you a way to opt out. http://blogs.computerworld.com/how_to_protect_yourself_against_google_ad_snooping

[EcnelisDoogod]

02:41 AM on 06/20/2011

It always amazes me when people talk of privacy concerns when we live in a post Patriot Act world. Even without this, the spiders are crawling through Facebook compiling the interconnections of contacts, interests, and the general hum of political discord. Everytime you hit a TiVo button, every show you watch, every call you make is compiled. Pawlease, Google is making us aware of what is out there. Beware of those claiming to want to proect us from the truth for our safety.

[JBS]

09:12 PM on 06/19/2011

Corporate malfeasance on both sides.

[bhcsga]

10:22 PM on 06/19/2011

Android doesn't require Java. There are other languages besides Java that can be used to write apps for Android. Android does not, cannot and has never used Java's vm. Oracle is counting on the ignorance of the legal profession when it comes to technical issues.

[Akuhei]

11:32 PM on 06/19/2011

Please. Google reverse-engineered Java's VM to create Dalvik and the vast majority of Android apps are written in Java. The amount of damages Oracle claims is ridiculous but they do have a case. Clearly not just patent trolling. Google knew what it was doing. Also, I dont buy the "we sat a guy in an empty room and created our own VM" nonsense.

[any mouse]

01:59 AM on 06/20/2011

IIRC, Dalvik runs its own binary code, not JavaVM binary code, but the source for both JavaVM binary code and Dalvik binary code is written in Java high level language.

In the case of JVM, it typically has a run-time compiler, whereas Dalvik requires the application to be compiled on a separate system to Dalvik binary code, which is what is delivered to the Android device.

I think there is a cross-compiler that converts JVM binary code to Dalvik binary code for those applications that have been previously compiled to JVM binary code.

[C Kevin Provance again]

09:00 PM on 06/19/2011

It's really sad and pathetic to watch billionaires fight amount themselves for over additional zeros on their profit margins.

[Tobby2k9]

11:15 PM on 06/19/2011

Good news for billioners and investors of either companies.

Average person ahhhhhhZZZZZZzzzzzzz HEY WAKE UP TIME FOR YOUR $8-9.25 dollar an hour job.

[Tikiman]

08:57 PM on 06/19/2011

It would be funny if you googled "oracle" and it sent you to a gay porn site. Payback is a b#*^%.

[dizmo4]

08:56 PM on 06/19/2011

Two big corporations battle it out,  the only losers are average consumers.

[Blutodog]

08:50 PM on 06/19/2011

The Battle of the Gods.

[Al Schrader]

08:50 PM on 06/19/2011

Interesting.