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Jury: Google Infringed on Copyright

Jury rules in Oracle case, though damages minimal.

Oracle wins! Sort of. A jury has decided that Google did use some of Oracle’s Java interfaces—but it’€™s unclear whether the action was allowed under the fair-use doctrine. Google did, however, infringe on some Java code when building its Android phone software—but unfortunately Oracle will get only statutory damages. The lawsuit was filed in the summer of 2010, and Oracle initially demanded that it get $1 billion in damages and the removal of Android devices from the market. Interestingly, documents used in the trail revealed that in 2010 Google through Android would ink $3.5 billion in revenue. Google has requested a mistrial be declared, and will fiile official papers tomorrow.