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Oracle Vs. Google

Oracle of America Inc. vs. Google Inc. is a lawsuit filed by Oracle in federal court against Google claiming that the search engine company infringed on Oracle’s Java-related patents in the development of Google’s Android mobile device operating system. Oracle, based in Redwood Shores, CA, filed the lawsuit in August 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. As of September 2011, both parties had entered into settlement discussions on the advice of the court.

  1. Background

    • Oracle Corp. makes information management software, including database management software for many business applications. In January 2010, Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems Inc., a company that developed computer software and information technology services. This included the purchase of the Java platform, a software program developed by Sun Microsystems whose core component is the Java programming language used in many Web applications. Google’s core product is its search engine and related marketing services, but the company also offers online productivity software and an open-source operating system developed for mobile devices, called Android. Oracle and Google are major rivals and compete for many of the same customers.

    Lawsuit

    • Oracle’s lawsuit alleged that Google “knowingly, directly and repeatedly” infringed on Oracle’s intellectual property related to Java in the development of Android, according to an August 2010 Reuters article. The Android operating system uses some of the Java technology, according to the article. Edward Raines, an intellectual property litigator, told Reuters that Sun Microsystems’ “corporate philosophy was very different from Oracle’s when it comes to enforcing patents” for Java, Reuters reported. Oracle alleged that the Dalvik virtual machine which ships with the Android OS violates seven U.S. patents held by Oracle. Network World reported in a July 2011 article that Oracle had asked handset makers to pay licensing fees of as much as $15 or $20 per handset for its patent protected software.

    Google Response

    • Google’s Chief Legal Officer, David Drummond, responded to the Oracle lawsuit in August 2011 by alleging that Oracle had engaged with other companies in an “anti-competitive strategy” against Android. “Android’s success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents,” Drummond wrote in a post on The Official Google Blog. The goal of Oracle, according to Drummond, is to drive up the cost of acquiring patents beyond their true value so that it would be more difficult for companies to manufacture Android-based devices.

    Settlement Talks

    • In September 2011, U.S. magistrate Judge Paul Grewal summoned the CEOs of Oracle (Larry Ellison) and Google (Larry Page) to appear at a round of discussions to settle the patent-infringement lawsuit, eWeek reported. Florian Mueller, an intellectual property analyst, was quoted by eWeek saying that he expected Google to offer a monetary settlement to Oracle in exchange for a perpetual license for Android.

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