Business & Tech
Mixed Trial and Market Results for Oracle and Google
A federal jury in San Francisco found that Google committed copyright infringement, but remained undecided on the issue of 'fair use.'
A decision in the copyright infringement claim by Oracle corporation against , Inc. shows they both came out the victors—and the losers.
After a five-day deliberation, a federal jury found that Google (GOOG) used some of the Java programming language to help develop the Android operating platfom for mobile devices and infringed on Oracle (ORCL) intellectual property.
However, a group of 37-Java API put a wrench on Oracle's hope for a clean sweep because the jury couldn't determine if Google had 'fair use' of the codes before Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010.
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The unsettled 'fair use' issue, which Google used as a defense to claim that the 37-API codes they used were available freely, now probably means a lower damages payout for Oracle. The Redwood-Shores City corporation sought $1 billion and back payment of license fees they sought.
The stock market had a split reaction to the jury decision causing Oracle's shares to fall 1.6 percent to $27.92 and Google to rise 2.1 percent to bring the price per share to $607.55.
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Google may file for a mistrial.
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