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Jury: No Patent Violations In Google's Use Of Java In Android

By Rick Whiting
May 23, 2012    4:30 PM ET

Google did not infringe Oracle's Java patents when it developed its Android software, a federal jury decided Wednesday.

The jury's unanimous finding means that Oracle, which had been seeking $1 billion or more in damages in the case, may not get a penny.

In late morning, the jury returned with its verdict in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, according to a Bloomberg story. The judge in the case dismissed the jury and canceled the third phase of the trial over damages, according to Bloomberg.

[Related: Oracle To Buy Virtue For Its Social Media Reach]

Earlier this month the jury, in the first phase of the trial, concluded that Google had infringed a number of copyrights relating to Java application programming interfaces. But, the jury was unable to reach a decision on whether that constituted a "fair use" of the intellectual property.

Oracle sued Google in 2010, claiming that the use of Java in Android violates patents, as well as copyrighted material, related to the Java platform. Oracle acquired Java when it bought Sun Microsystems in January 2010.

The trial began on April 16.

"Oracle presented overwhelming evidence at trial that Google knew it would fragment and damage Java," Oracle said in a brief statement issued after the jury's verdict. "We plan to continue to defend and uphold Java's core write-once, run-anywhere principle and ensure it is protected for the nine million Java developers and the community that depend on Java compatibility."

Google did not immediately return a request for comment.

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