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ARTICLE · 08 MAY 2018

Are APIs No Longer Safe To Use When Creating Mobile And Other Software Applications?

Davis+Gilbert LLP
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A recent decision in the longstanding fight between Oracle and Google could change the way software developers and programmers use APIs when creating mobile and other software applications.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Marc Rachman
Marc Rachman
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A recent decision in the longstanding fight between Oracle and Google could change the way software developers and programmers use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) when creating mobile and other software applications. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeal's decision held that, contrary to the jury's verdict in the trial below, as a matter of law, Google's use of Oracle's copyrighted Java APIs was not protected by the copyright defense of Fair Use.

Oracle's Java Platform

Oracle owns the widely-used Java platform and Java programming language. The Java platform is available for free in certain circumstances under an open source license to be used to write and run programs that use the Java programming language, and it can run those programs across different types of hardware without having to rewrite the program for each different type. Oracle does, however, charge a licensing fee to developers who want to use its APIs in a competing platform or electronic

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