“Google’s use of the Java API packages was not fair,” appeals court rules

Oracle wants $8.8 billion, but that’s now for a lower court to determine.

Cyrus Farivar – Mar 27, 2018 3:30 pm | 5.3k

Signage stands at the Oracle Corp. headquarters campus in Redwood City, California, on March 14, 2016. Credit: Michael Short/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The case of Oracle v. Google is Silicon Valley’s lawsuit that will seemingly never die.

On Tuesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of Oracle, finding that Google may owe billions in damages. Nearly 7.5 years after the original lawsuit was filed, the case will now be sent back down to federal court in San Francisco to figure out how much Google should pay.

"Google’s use of the Java API packages was not fair," the court ruled Tuesday.

As Ars reported back in October 2016 when the case was appealed, after Oracle purchased Sun Microsystems and acquired the rights to Java, it sued Google in 2010. Oracle claimed that Google had infringed copyrights and patents related to Java.

Eventually, this lawsuit went to trial in 2012. Oracle initially lost but had part of its case revived on appeal. The sole issue in the second trial was whether Google infringed the APIs in Java, which the appeals court held are copyrighted. In May 2016, a jury found in Google's favor after a second trial, stating that Google’s use of the APIs was protected by "fair use."

Oracle has claimed that even though its APIs are free to use, they cannot be used in competing products—the company argues that Google owes nearly $9 billion in damages as a result of using these APIs in Android.

"The fact that Android is free of charge does not make Google’s use of the Java API packages noncommercial," the Federal Circuit ruled. "Giving customers ‘for free something they would ordinarily have to buy’ can constitute commercial use."

In a statement, Dorian Daley, Oracle’s general counsel, wrote, "The Federal Circuit’s opinion upholds fundamental principles of copyright law and makes clear that Google violated the law. This decision protects creators and consumers from the unlawful abuse of their rights."

Meanwhile, Google said it is "disappointed" in the ruling.

"This type of ruling will make apps and online services more expensive for users. We are considering our options," Patrick Lenihan, a Google spokesman, emailed Ars.