Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile

Oracle dealt patent defeat in Google Android case

Geoff Duncan
By
oracle-headquarters
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office dealt Oracle a bit of a setback in its high-stakes patent litigation against Google over Android. In a filing just before the Christmas holiday, the USPTO effectively threw out one of the seven patents Oracle is using against Google (full text available at Groklaw), rejecting some 17 of the 21 claims asserted in U.S. patent 6,192,476. Although only one of those claims was being leveraged against Google—claim 14—the rejection of so many claims basically means the entire patent has been invalidated.

Google requested the patent be re-examined by the USPTO, along with others Oracle is asserting against it in the case. The request for re-examination is common in patent litigation: defendants typically assert both that the aren’t infringing on a particular patent, and furthermore that the patent ought not to have been issued in the first place, and therefore is invalid and nobody could infringe on it even if they tried.

Recommended Videos

Oracle’s infringement case against Google hinges on the Java virtual machine included in Google’s Android operating system; Oracle claims the technology violates a number of Java patents it acquired along with Sun Microsystems in early 2010. Oracle initially asserted 132 infringement claims against seven patents; the list of claims was reduced to a list of 50 on the request of the judge handling the case; of those, only one (claim 14) was against patent 6,192,476. However, that means Oracle still has six patents in play in its case against Google. The judge has requested Oracle further limit the number of claims it brings to trail; Oracle had been hoping to bring 21 claims, but the judge had suggested Oracle focus on just three claims to streamline proceedings.

Related

Generally speaking, Oracle would prefer to go to trail sooner than later. The case was originally supposed to go to trail in October, but a scheduling conflict lead to a delay. Oracle then asked for a January start date, but Google has dragged its feet, saying it can’t be ready for trail before July.

Oracle has until February 20 to request an appeal the preliminary ruling. Preliminary rulings against patents have been later been overturned upon full review, so Oracle may have a chance of hanging on to the patent after all. If Oracle does nothing, it will likely be stripped of the patent.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Geoff Duncan
Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
This Google Pixel 8a leak just spoiled everything about the phone
A person holding the Google Pixel 8, showing the back of the phone.

Previous leaked render of the Google Pixel 8a. Smart Prix

We are, in theory, only just over a month away from an official unveiling of Google's newest midrange smartphone, the Google Pixel 8a. However, it seems you won't have to wait until Google I/O 2024 to find out what Google has planned, as a leaker has just revealed everything we need to know about the latest entry in the Pixel roster.

Read more
These are the best Android 15 features you need to know about
Android 15 logo on a Google Pixel 8.

Android 15 has entered its latter leg of testing among developers, and in the coming months, a beta build will finally be released for the masses. So far, across the two Developer Preview builds that Google has released, we’ve encountered a handful of new features that will make life easier for smartphone users in meaningful ways.

Among them is a notification cooldown system that shields you from a barrage of audio alerts from your apps. Google has already detailed the changelog to a healthy extent, but not all new tricks have been implemented yet. But there’s still enough to unpack in Android 15, and some of those notable additions are detailed below:
Partial screen sharing

Read more
How to use Circle to Search on your Android phone
Samsung Galaxy S24 showing Circle to Search.

When Samsung announced its Galaxy S24 series, it also revealed a slew of new features in its Galaxy AI suite. One of these new features is Circle to Search, which lets you easily search for anything on the screen with a simple gesture.

Think of it like a mashup of Google Lens and a screenshot search. You can activate Circle to Search no matter what you're doing. Whether you're on your home screen, in a web browser, or using an app, you can always call upon Circle to Search.

Read more