Oracle has lawyered up and sent the suits at Google into a frenzy. The company is reportedly asking between $1.4 and $6.1 billion in compensation from Google for alleged patent infringement. That’s a hefty bit of change even for the search giant.
This is not the first we’ve heard of Oracle suing Google. In fact, this is the same lawsuit filed in 2010 when Oracle accused Google of infringing on some of its Java patents in the Android mobile OS.
The difference today is that U.S. District Judge William Alsup asked Google to reveal the damages to the public. Given the financial impact, Oracle alleges that Google was deliberately delaying the release of the potential damages.
So what’s the big picture? Well for starters, if Oracle was to win the case then Google would have to license the use of Java on each Android installation. The fee could potentially knock Google out of the mobile market.
Also keep in mind Oracle paid $7.4 billion to acquire Sun, the company that originally developed Java. With a maximum $6.1 billion ruling, this would turn the transaction into $1.3 billion acquisition — possibly one of the best tech moves of recent memory. There’s a long way to go before this case is resolved, but don’t expect a shortage of comments coming from Oracle now that the price of the suit is public domain.
If Oracle was to win the lawsuit and enforced a £40 Java licensing fee per Android smartphone would you be willing to absorb the cost?
via ITProPortal
