‘Landmark’ Battle Between Tech Giants Google and Oracle Comes to a Surprisingly Abrupt End
Oracle v. Google - once dubbed a landmark trial that would test the limits of copyrights and patents on technology - came to an abrupt end Friday, with a federal judge denying Oracle’s requests for summary judgment and a new trial.
In a single paragraph citing six of his previous orders, Judge Alsup effectively ended his affiliation with the trial and denied Oracle’s Rule 50(b) judgment as a matter of law motion as well as the company’s request for a new trial. Alsup’s ruling vacates the hearing previously set for July 26.
Oracle first sued Google in 2010 for copyright and patent infringement over the use of Java source code in Google’s Android phones. Oracle claimed that Google copied application programming interfaces (APIs) and technology patented by Sun Microsystems in order to rush the Android operating system to the market. Oracle acquired Sun and its Java technology in 2010.