Google vs Oracle, Eyes on the US Supreme Court... Which Side Will It Favor?

U.S. Supreme Court
Photo by AP News

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court case between Google and Oracle over the intellectual property rights of the Java programming language took place on the 7th (local time), CNN reported. The decade-long legal battle between the two companies is expected to be decided by the Supreme Court's ruling, drawing the attention of the global IT industry.

According to reports, the U.S. Supreme Court held oral arguments regarding the intellectual property lawsuit between Google and Oracle on that day. The arguments lasted about 1 hour and 30 minutes, during which the justices sought to understand and verify the claims of both sides.

This lawsuit began when Oracle, which holds the intellectual property rights to Java, raised issues over Google's use of parts of Java's Application Programming Interface (API) code during the development of the Android operating system (OS). Oracle filed the lawsuit after acquiring Java developer Sun Microsystems in 2010, alleging that Google copied the API structure to create the Android API.

Earlier, in 2012, Google won the case as the Java API was deemed not subject to copyright. However, in 2014, the federal appeals court recognized Oracle's copyright, and in 2015, the Supreme Court denied Google's petition for certiorari, confirming the appellate court's decision.

Subsequently, Oracle and Google have been retried from the first instance on whether Oracle's copyright on the Java API code is valid and whether Google's use without a license agreement constitutes 'fair use' under U.S. copyright law.

CNBC and other broadcasters reported that the justices were divided over the arguments. Justice Stephen Breyer appeared to lean toward supporting Google's logic, but other justices had not yet reached a decision, CNBC said. It added that some justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, expressed sympathy for Oracle's intellectual property claims.

The final ruling on this case is expected to be announced by the end of June next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.