District Court jury in San Francisco has ruled that Google infringed on the overall structure of software copyrights held by Oracle. However, the ruling also said that Google had not violated other important parts of Oracle’s software, popularly known as Java.
Oracle has asserted that Google violated its copyrights to Java when it built the Android operating system. This ruling, however, consequently means that Google will not have to redesign its Android mobile OS.
The loss on one count means that Google will continue to fight. “There are going to be appeals,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst with IDC. “It looks like Google is close to what it wants, with just one copyright loss. If they have to get a license, all the Android phone vendors have to get one too. It could give Oracle a say in future versions of Android, and that is something Google doesn’t want.”
Source: New York Times
