Author: Joe Mullin

SAN FRANCISCO—Oracle's copyright lawsuit is all about one "very simple rule," the company's attorney told a jury today.

"You don’t take people’s property without permission and use it for your own benefit," said Oracle lawyer Peter Bicks. "Google took a shortcut, and they took a shortcut at Oracle’s expense."

The closing argument Bicks delivered today was his final chance to convince a jury that Google should be held liable for copyright infringement for using 37 Java APIs, which Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems. An appeals court has ruled that the APIs can be copyrighted. Now, Google's only hope of avoiding a payment to Oracle—which could potentially be in the billions of dollars—is a finding that it was "fair use" to harness the Java APIs.

SAN FRANCISCO—Google attorney Robert Van Nest made his closing argument to a panel of jurors here today, asking them to clear Android of copyright infringement allegations as a matter of "fairness and fair use."

"This is a very important case, not only for Google but for innovation and technology in general," Van Nest told the jury. "What Google engineers did was nothing out of that mainstream. They built Android from scratch, using new Google technology, and adapted technology from open sources. Android was a remarkable thing, a brand-new platform for innovation."

Van Nest's 90-minute closing argument was Google's final fusillade before this six-year-old lawsuit goes to the jury. Oracle has argued that Google's use of 37 Java APIs in Android infringes copyrights that Oracle acquired when it purchased Sun Microsystems. An appeals court has already found that APIs can indeed be copyrighted. Unless the ten-person jury empaneled in San Francisco finds that Google's use of APIs was "fair use," Oracle will win damages, and the company is hoping to ask for as much as $9 billion.

SAN FRANCISCO—Presentation of evidence in the Oracle v. Google trial ended today, and US District Judge William Alsup has sent the jury home for a long weekend. On Monday, the jury members will come back to hear closing arguments and begin their deliberations.

The lawsuit began when Oracle sued Google in 2010 over its use of 37 Java APIs, which Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems. In 2012, a judge ruled that APIs can't be copyrighted at all, but an appeals court disagreed. Now, unless a jury finds that Google's use of APIs was "fair use," Oracle could ask for as much as $9 billion in damages.

The final hours of court time today were filled with a short Google rebuttal case, in which the company called two witnesses.

SAN FRANCISCO—Alphabet CEO Larry Page testified in federal court this morning, saying that he never considered getting permission to use Java APIs, because they were "free and open."

The CEO of Alphabet, Google's parent company, spoke in a soft staccato and was hard to understand at times. (Page suffers from a condition that affects his vocal chords.) But Page spoke to the jury for about a half-hour, answering a lightning-fast round of accusatory questions from Oracle attorney Peter Bicks.

Page's testimony comes in the final hours of the Oracle v. Google trial. The lawsuit began when Oracle sued Google in 2010 over its use of 37 Java APIs, which Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems. In 2012, a judge ruled that APIs can't be copyrighted at all, but an appeals court disagreed. Now, unless a jury finds that Google's use of APIs was "fair use," Oracle may seek up to $9 billion in damages.

SAN FRANCISCO—An economist hired by Oracle was sworn in and took the stand in federal court today, opining that Google's use of Java APIs in Android shouldn't be considered "fair use."

The testimony by Adam Jaffe wrapped up day eight of the Oracle v. Google trial, a legal dispute that began in 2010 when Oracle sued Google's use of the 37 Java APIs, which Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems. In 2012, a judge ruled that APIs can't be copyrighted at all, but an appeals court disagreed. Now Oracle may seek up to $9 billion in damages.

If Google hadn't copied the 37 Java APIs in question, Android "very likely would not have been as successful," Jaffe opined. He also believed that Java was "poised to enjoy continued success" in the mobile space, a point also made earlier today by former Sun licensing executives.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Lawyers for Oracle Corporation summoned a hostile witness to the stand today here in federal court, revealing what they surely hope will be a "smoking gun" e-mail in their copyright infringement case against Google.

One big problem: the writer of that e-mail, Stefano Mazzocchi, didn't work for Google at the time. Mazzocchi is one of three people who created the Apache Harmony program, which Google leaned on heavily when it created its Android mobile operating system.

The case began in 2010, when Oracle, which acquired Java when it purchased Sun Microsystems, sued Google for using Java APIs in Android. In 2012, a judge ruled that APIs can't be copyrighted at all, but an appeals court disagreed. At the jury trial now underway, Oracle may seek up to $9 billion in damages, while Google is arguing that its use of the 37 APIs constitutes "fair use."

SAN FRANCISCO—Oracle put two former Sun Microsystems executives on the stand today to testify about how Google's Android hurt the market for Java licensing to phones.

It's the eighth day of the Oracle v. Google trial, the second showdown in a legal dispute that began in 2010, when Oracle sued Google over the use of Java APIs in Android. In 2012, a judge ruled that APIs can't be copyrighted at all, but an appeals court disagreed. Now Oracle may seek up to $9 billion in damages, while Google is arguing that its use of the 37 APIs in question constitutes "fair use."

First to the stand was Neil Civjan, Sun's head of global sales, who testified about how the company's substantial business licensing Java for mobile phones tanked after the launch of Android.

SAN FRANCISCO—Oracle lawyers put two executives and a computer expert on the witness stand in federal court here today, pushing their case that Google violated copyright law when it used Java API packages in its Android operating system.

Following morning testimony by Oracle CEO Safra Catz, the ten-person jury heard from Edward Screven, Oracle's chief corporate architect, who has worked at the company for 30 years. Screven was deeply involved in the company's decision to buy Sun Microsystems in 2009. He was worried that, given Sun's business problems, it wouldn't be able to invest and be a "good steward" of Java.

"Were you in favor of that decision because you thought Oracle could sue Google?" asked Oracle attorney Annette Hurst.

SAN FRANCISCO—Oracle CEO Safra Catz testified in federal court today that Oracle spends "hundreds of millions" of dollars promoting and supporting Java and that the investment was at risk because of Google and Android.

It's the seventh day of the Oracle v. Google trial, a legal dispute that began when Oracle sued Google for copyright infringement in 2010. In 2012, a judge ruled that APIs can't be copyrighted at all, but an appeals court disagreed. Now Oracle may seek up to $9 billion in damages, while Google is arguing that its use of the 37 APIs constitutes "fair use."

"What's the significance of intellectual property protection to Oracle?" attorney Annette Hurst asked Catz.

SAN FRANCISCO—Oracle CEO Safra Catz took the stand in federal court today as her company makes its case that Google should pay billions of dollars for using 37 Java APIs in its Android operating system.

Oracle, which acquired Java when it purchased Sun Microsystems, sued Google over the APIs in 2010. In 2012, a judge ruled that APIs can't be copyrighted at all, but an appeals court disagreed. Now Oracle may seek up to $9 billion in damages, while Google is arguing that its use of the 37 APIs constitutes "fair use."

Catz, who is co-CEO together with Mark Hurd, began by running through the basics of her background. Born in Israel, she moved to the US with her parents in 1967 and became an American citizen in 1972. She joined Oracle in 1999 and rose through the ranks to become president, the role she had during the 2012 trial against Google. Questioned by Oracle attorney Annette Hurst, Catz explained how her company reached the decision to purchase Sun Microsystems.