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Oracle blames Google for shutting it out of the smartphone industry

by on29 March 2019


Oh those pesky applets

Oracle has made the bizarre claim that the only reason it is not the king of the smartphones is that Google used applets in its software.

Oracle made a claim in an application to the US Supreme Court. It has asked the Supremes not review an appellate court's decision finding Google violated Oracle's copyright of the Java platform when building the Android mobile operating system.

In that opposition brief, Oracle's attorneys said Google's copyright violation shut Oracle, the Java platform owner, out of the emerging smartphone market, causing incalculable harm to its business.

The case has been going on since 2010 before a circuit court last year reversed a jury decision in favour of Oracle.

That prompted Google's appeal to the nation's highest court. Oracle said Google had previously asked for a writ of certiorari -- the legal term for review by the high court -- in 2015 without success in an earlier phase of the case, and the company argues nothing has changed in the time since.

Oracle believes Google destroyed its hopes of competing as a smartphone platform developer with the Java platform, which enables development and execution of software written in Java, including through APIs that access a vast software library.

The lawsuit alleged Google copied those APIs without a proper license. Java was developed at Sun Microsystems, which Oracle acquired in 2010.

"Google's theory is that having invested all those resources in creating a program popular with platform developers and app programmers alike, Oracle should be required to let a competitor copy its code so that it can co-opt the fan base to create its own best-selling sequel", Oracle's brief states.

 

Last modified on 29 March 2019
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