| Posted on 14 August 2010 | e-News®
About 200,000 smartphones and other devices based on Android are sold each day which is great news for Google’s pockets. But they could be set to lose a large chunk of their profits in a hefty legal battle which has just come to light.
Oracle who acquired Java through a $5.6bn (£3.6bn) purchase of Sun Microsystems earlier this year have filed papers in a US federal court alleging patent and copyright infringement by Google, centring on the use of Java technology in the development of the Android Operating system.
Experts predict that Oracle will be more aggressive over licences for Java and this is just the first evidence of that.
Oracle claim Google, “knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s Java-related intellectual property” Chief executive Larry Ellison said he ‘views Java as a key asset’ and is obviously ready to defend it (i.e. use it to make as much money as he can with it.)
Google are yet to reply.
If they have infringed the licensing of Java then they’re going to have to cough up the money and an apology, but you can’t help but think that Oracle are trying to cash in on the huge success of Android.
Source: engadget