Poor Oracle. After suffering a loss in a battle against Google concerning Java and Android patent fun-stuff, the court is ordering the company to pay Google’s legal fees, totaling no more than $300,000. To sum it all up, at the beginning of the trial the court said that if they felt Oracle was dragging the cases along and wasted the court’s time, a large fee would be the outcome. Better luck next time, Oracle.

Via: Gizmodo

Oracle Ordered by Judge to Pay Google’s Legal Fees In Latest Patent Battle Loss is a post from: Droid Life

Chalk up another win for Google and Android. Today, the jury in what a judge called the “longest civil trial” he had been a part of, decided that Google did not infringe on Oracle’s patents. This marks an end to a painful process that saw the likes of Andy Rubin and Larry Page take the stand to defend their use of Java in Android.

Feel free to cheers your phone this afternoon at happy hour.

Via:  CNET

Cheers duke69111!

Jury Finds that Android Does Not Infringe on Oracle Patents is a post from: Droid Life

In a letter to the court concerning a recent Java-related patent infringement case against Google (go figure), Oracle has divulged that it is their belief that Google earns roughly $10 million each day  in annual revenue from Android activations. Oracle did not mention how them came upon this number, but patent expert Florian Muller feels that they arrived at the alleged integer by basing it on the fact that Google earns roughly $14 per Android activation.

Oracle is also claiming that Google’s use of Java in Android now stretches far beyond just Android. This product is allowing them to grow Google+, make money from the Android Market, etc. If it isn’t clear yet, this is Oracle’s way of trying to raise the amount of money they feel they are owed by Google for allegedly using Java illegally. It’s a smart move and the assessment is probably fair whether any of us like it or not. Wait, did I just call a move made by a patent troll “fair?”

Via: BGR, Foss Patents

Oracle: “Daily Android Activations Likely Generate $10 Million in Annual Mobile Advertising Revenue for Google” is a post from: Droid Life

In the past few weeks, the tech world has been shadowed by a bunch of lawsuits filed by all of the big names. Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, and Google, all seem to be preparing for an epic showdown in the court room.

Two weeks ago though, Google made the huge announcement that they would be purchasing Motorola Mobility for the tune of $12.5 billion. The reason behind the purchase was quite obvious, in that Google needed the 17,000 patents that Moto held (7,500 additional still pending), to protect their beloved Android OS from other sue happy corporations. It is now making light, that 18 in particular of some 17,000 patents may be needed to secure the future of Android against other mobile operating systems. So of those 24,500 patents, it the battle for Android could come down to a select few. As in the wise words of Bart Simpson, “Ay caramba!”

This quote from patent lawyer David Mixon was put on record over at Phandroid:

One patent from 2001 disables a “touch sensitive” sensor when a smartphone is near a user’s head to prevent inadvertent hang-ups or dialing. Another from 1994 aims to increase data storage, while a third enables users to control when a global positioning system sends their location data over a network.

At the start of 2011, Google was the holder of just over 1,000 patents of their own, so adding Moto’s 17,000+ should definitely broaden their chances of crushing any lawsuits aimed at them.  It is still anyone’s guess as to when this will all shake out, but this battle is far from over.

What is everyone’s views on all of the legal news? Getting tiresome? Maybe we can get #TeamGoog trending on Twitter?

Via: Phandroid, Bloomberg

Google’s Acquisition Of Motorola Was For 17,000 Patents, But Only 18 May Be Needed For Battle is a post from: Droid Life

More patent garbage, apologies ahead of time.

Remember the epic rant from Google yesterday, having to do with the patent situation in the tech world and how everyone is in bed with one another which is creating a hostile environment?   Their chief legal office even going as far as calling out some companies specifically like Microsoft, Apple and Oracle?   While we all got fired up and excited, agreeing with every single point that was made, it turns out that maybe the “Publish” button shouldn’t have been pressed just yet.  (Update:  Or should it have been?  Google has fired back with some pretty strong comments. We have added them just after the Microsoft part.)    

Microsoft, last night, decided to fire back at Google with an email that was exchanged between the two companies, possibly showing that the Redmond-based software behemoth had actually reached out to see if Googs was interested in joining their Novell patent purchasing group.  Google obviously, turning down their offer.  Yikes.  Brad Smith, from Microsoft’s general counsel also tweeted the following:

So what do we make of all this?  Well for starters, Microsoft may have asked that Google join them in the Novell patent group, but that still doesn’t mean that the Nortel patents which were purchased just a few weeks ago, weren’t purchased to simply attack Android in the “hostile” way that they have claimed.  We don’t really know the whole situation here, nor will we ever.  It’s one of those online troll fights between two mega companies now.  It’s actually looking pretty pathetic from both sides, if you ask me.

Update:  And Google has already fired back with some pretty significant points:

It’s not surprising that Microsoft would want to divert attention by pushing a false “gotcha!” while failing to address the substance of the issues we raised. If you think about it, it’s obvious why we turned down Microsoft’s offer. Microsoft’s objective has been to keep from Google and Android device-makers any patents that might be used to defend against their attacks. A joint acquisition of the Novell patents that gave all parties a license would have eliminated any protection these patents could offer to Android against attacks from Microsoft and its bidding partners. Making sure that we would be unable to assert these patents to defend Android — and having us pay for the privilege — must have seemed like an ingenious strategy to them. We didn’t fall for it.

Ultimately, the U.S. Department of Justice intervened, forcing Microsoft to sell the patents it bought and demanding that the winning group (Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, EMC) give a license to the open-source community, changes the DoJ said were “necessary to protect competition and innovation in the open source software community.” This only reaffirms our point: Our competitors are waging a patent war on Android and working together to keep us from getting patents that would help balance the scales.

I think the big thing here, is that we’re all sick to death of talking about patents and the broken system we have for them here in the U.S.  To think that companies can buy patents, to then turn around and tell their competitors not to use them, is bass ackwards in the way the world and competition and innovation should work.  I completely understand the idea of going after someone who is using technologies that you have patented, but to go out and purchase more, just for the sake of turning around and saying, “Well, we own this now, so you can’t use it anymore,” is completely against everything this country is supposed to stand for.  Here’s to hoping the government does exactly what it did with the Novell group, and helps fuel competition rather than squash it.

Bleh, burnt out on patents.

Oh Google, Did You Jump the Gun With that Patent Rant Yesterday? (Updated: Maybe Not) is a post from: Droid Life

David Drummond the Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Google, just released a pretty epic statement.  If you ever wanted to know their feelings on the ridiculous patent situation that Apple, Microsoft and Oracle have brought forth towards Android, then you’ll want to read this.  Some incredibly strong words that I couldn’t agree with more.  

Here is the piece in its entirety:

I have worked in the tech sector for over two decades. Microsoft and Apple have always been at each other’s throats, so when they get into bed together you have to start wondering what’s going on. Here is what’s happening:

Android is on fire. More than 550,000 Android devices are activated every day, through a network of 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers. Android and other platforms are competing hard against each other, and that’s yielding cool new devices and amazing mobile apps for consumers.

But Android’s success has yielded something else: a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents.

They’re doing this by banding together to acquire Novell’s old patents (the “CPTN” group including Microsoft and Apple) and Nortel’s old patents (the “Rockstar” group including Microsoft and Apple), to make sure Google didn’t get them; seeking $15 licensing fees for every Android device; attempting to make it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android (which we provide free of charge) than Windows Mobile; and even suingBarnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it.

A smartphone might involve as many as 250,000 (largely questionable) patent claims, and our competitors want to impose a “tax” for these dubious patents that makes Android devices more expensive for consumers. They want to make it harder for manufacturers to sell Android devices. Instead of competing by building new features or devices, they are fighting through litigation.

This anti-competitive strategy is also escalating the cost of patents way beyond what they’re really worth. Microsoft and Apple’s winning $4.5 billion for Nortel’s patent portfolio was nearly five times larger than the pre-auction estimate of $1 billion. Fortunately, the law frowns on the accumulation of dubious patents for anti-competitive means — which means these deals are likely to draw regulatory scrutiny, and this patent bubble will pop.

We’re not naive; technology is a tough and ever-changing industry and we work very hard to stay focused on our own business and make better products. But in this instance we thought it was important to speak out and make it clear that we’re determined to preserve Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who are trying to strangle it.

We’re looking intensely at a number of ways to do that. We’re encouraged that the Department of Justice forced the group I mentioned earlier to license the former Novell patents on fair terms, and that it’s looking into whether Microsoft and Apple acquired the Nortel patents for anti-competitive means. We’re also looking at other ways to reduce the anti-competitive threats against Android by strengthening our own patent portfolio. Unless we act, consumers could face rising costs for Android devices — and fewer choices for their next phone.

And as always, we’ll leave it open for discussion.

Via: Google Blog

Google Speaks Out on the “Hostile, Organized Campaign” by Apple, Microsoft and Oracle To Stop Android Through “Bogus Patents” is a post from: Droid Life

If anyone has been following the case against Google made by Oracle about an alleged infringement on Oracle’s Java software, then you may be pleased to hear that Google might have gotten a good piece of evidence to help fight the money hungry Oracle. A couple years ago, Sun was bought by Oracle, and Sun were the holders of Java. A blog post made by Sun’s CEO shows that he was just fine with Google’s use of Java on their OS. Even going as far to state that all of Sun’s development resources should be based around the platform. 

I’d also like Sun to be the first platform software company to commit to a complete developer environment around the platform, as we throw Sun’s NetBeans developer platform for mobile devices behind the effort. We’ve obviously done a ton of work to support developers on all Java based platforms, and were pleased to add Google’s Android to the list. – Jonathan Schwartz CEO of Sun

This blog by Mr. Schwartz himself, shall be used in court as an approval of Google to use Java in Android. Definitely sounds like he has no issues with it so far, am I right? In comes Oracle. After acquiring the Java software, Oracle deleted the blog made by the Sun CEO and only recently has it been retrieved using the internet’s wonderful time machine powers. Now Oracle will have to answer for this in court, and we’re hoping a judge will side with Google and their approved use of Java.

But wait, does the CEO of Sun actually mean that Google can use it without paying it’s dues? Back in 2007, CNET touched on these matters and it didn’t sound like Sun was extremely happy with what Google was doing. Sun Microsystems stated that Google was taking Java down a road of fragmentation. (Ring a bell?)

Anything that creates a more diverse or fractured platform is not in developers’ best interests – Executive VP of Sun’s Software

Once Sun saw that Google was possibly taking their work, and turning it into something that would not benefit the community as a whole, they seemingly changed their tune. Google reacted quick with their statement and a rep had this to say:

Google and the other members of the Open Handset Alliance are working to help solve fragmentation and supporting the developer community by creating Android, a mobile platform that responds to the needs of the developers, has the backing of industry leaders, and will be available as open source under a nonrestrictive license.

Does anyone else see a vicious cycle happening here? Keep in mind this was all back in 2007, and it may not even end for quite some time. This story is years in the making, and we’ll keep you posted if anything that may concern Android as a whole, happens. Sun CEO approved of Google’s usage, then retracted approval? Then Oracle erases CEO’s statements anyways? This would be an excellent T.V. Drama.

Via: AndroidAndMe

Oracle Deletes Evidence Pointing To Sun’s Approval Of Java Use In Android is a post from: Droid Life