A federal judge at the U.S. District Court of Northern California said on Wednesday that Google did not infringe upon the two claims in U.S. Patent No. 6,061,520 and six claims in U.S. Patent No. RE38.104
The decision is a significant win for Google, marking the end of the trail’s second phase which focuses on patent infringement.
The trial is meant to be in three parts with the first part involving the copyright phase, the second phase addressing Oracle’s allegations of patent infringement, and the final phase is meant to decide the damages Oracle may receive.
However, after the decision, the third phase which focuses on damages has been cancelled.
"Today’s jury verdict that Android does not infringe Oracle’s patents was a victory not just for Google but the entire Android ecosystem," said Google in a statement.
Oracle had been claiming nearly $1bn in damages from Google.
"Oracle presented overwhelming evidence at trial that Google knew it would fragment and damage Java," Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger said in a statement. "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 had offered to pay Oracle $2.8m in damages for two patents in the case as well as 0.5% of Android future revenues but Oracle refused the offer.
"Oracle cannot agree to unilaterally give up its rights, on appeal and in this court, to seek full redress for Google’s unlawful conduct," Oracle said in a filing.
Sun Microsystems first developed the free computer programming language Java which Oracle got the rights to when it acquired Sun Microsystems for $7.3bn in January 2010.
Oracle claimed Google copied 37 different Java APIs now owned by it, though Google said that the Java language can be used for free to build Android, which was also agreed by Sun.
Sun’s Java platform is used as a standard software interface across all operating systems, allowing developers to write applications which can be run on any system.
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