Negotiations Continue In Oracle-Google Patent Lawsuit
The two executives reportedly remain far apart after an all-day, closed-door negotiating session Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., according to a Bloomberg report.
Oracle sued Google last year claiming that the use of Java in Android violates seven patents, as well as copyrighted material related to the Java platform. Oracle acquired Java when it bought Sun Microsystems in January 2010.
Oracle has claimed that Google owes billions in damages, as much as $6.1 billion, while Google has proposed paying a royalty of around $100 million. In July U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup rejected Oracle's claim of damages in the billions, suggesting instead using the $100 million figure as a starting point.
Along with damages, Oracle wants the court to order the destruction of all products that violate its copyright, according to the Bloomberg story. While that may not be likely, the lawsuit has cast a cloud of uncertainty over Android, which accounted for 43.4 percent of the worldwide smartphone market in this year's second quarter, according to market researcher Gartner. Google provides Android for free, but that could change if Google has to pay high royalty fees to Oracle.
The case is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 30. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal said the two sides should expect to continuing negotiating toward a settlement up until Sept. 30, the Bloomberg story said.