[opendtv] Oracle Sues Google, Saying Android Violates Java Copyrights - WSJ.com

  • From: "Mark A. Aitken" <maitken@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: OpenDTV <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:54:19 -0400

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575426122820659864.html?mod=rss_whats_news_technology&mg=com-wsj

   * TECHNOLOGY
     <http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-tech-technology.html>
   * AUGUST 13, 2010, 12:53 P.M. ET


 Oracle Sues Google, Saying Android Violates Java Copyrights


     By DON CLARK
     
<http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=DON+CLARK&bylinesearch=true>
     And CARI TUNA
     
<http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=CARI+TUNA&bylinesearch=true>



Oracle <http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=ORCL> Corp. sued Google <http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=goog> Inc. for patent and copyright infringement, a surprise move that could cast a legal cloud over the growing number of cellphones that use the Android operating system.

The suit represents a sweeping shot at the current, much admired and often resented, king of Silicon Valley by Oracle's swashbuckling chief executive who has thrived even while alienating many with his aggressive acquisitiveness and push to portray himself as an outsider.

The move creates a confrontation between Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, whose company dominates in business software, and Google's Eric Schmidt, a former Sun chief technology officer who spread Sun's open software message at Google.

The suit follows Oracle's January purchase of computer maker Sun Microsystems, inventor of the Java programming software that is incorporated into Android cellphones and hundreds of other devices.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California, accuses Google of infringing seven Java patents and related copyrights. It seeks unspecific damages and an injunction against "continued acts of infringement" by Google.or

A Google spokesman said the company hadn't yet been served with the lawsuit and couldn't comment further.

The legal challenge set off shock waves in the Silicon Valley software community. Sun, though it amassed thousands of patents, was one of the biggest backers of freely sharing programming technologies. Though Sun cut licensing deals to sell Java, it offered free versions under what the industry calls open-source licenses.

Mr. Schmidt, Google's chief executive, worked for years in senior management ranks at Sun and helped bring some similar philosophies about software to the Internet search company. Android, which includes an operating system and associated application programs, includes Java technologies. The software has been a huge success. Smartphones using Android edged past Apple Inc.'s iPhones in the second quarter, taking the No. 3 position and accounting for 17.2% of unit sales, research firm Gartner Inc. said Thursday.

Google was widely assumed to have rights to use Java under a licensing agreement for Java, though the companies never announced a patent cross-licensing deal. The suit is "very perplexing," said Kim Polese, a former Sun manager who subsequently worked with open-source software. "Everyone is using Java."

Sun was often criticized by investors for making little money on Java. Oracle, on the other hand, seems determined to wring more profit from Sun's intellectual property.

Compared with Sun, Oracle "takes a lot more care in terms of protecting its IP, and Java is one of the crown jewels of the Sun acquisition," said Ray Wang, an analyst with Altimeter Group. An Oracle injunction could block developers from building applications using the Android platform and shipments of Android phones, he said.

Mr. Ellison is widely known as a close friend of some high-profile tech leaders, including Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs and Mark Hurd, who resigned as CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. last Friday. His relationship with Mr. Schmidt has attracted less attention.

The Oracle chief's attitude toward open-source software has also been ambiguous. Mr. Ellison at times has expressed support for the technology and at other times questioned the value of buying suppliers of it.

Oracle's suit is not the only one related to Android. In March, Apple sued a key Google partner and maker of Android-based phones, Taiwan-based HTC Corp., alleging numerous patent violations. HTC has denied the claims filed against it in Delaware federal court.

Oracle's legal team in the case includes David Boies, a well-known attorney who represented the U.S. Justice Department in its antitrust action against Microsoft Corp. and former Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 Florida recount battle. He also represented software company SCO Group Inc. in a 2003 suit against International Business Machines Corp. over the open-source Linux operating system; that case remains pending.

---Amir Efrati contributed to this article.

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Mark A. Aitken
Director, Advanced Technology
Sinclair Broadcast Group
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