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ARTICLE · 22 MAY 2014

Federal Circuit Copyright Decision In Oracle v. Google: A Quick Read For The Busy Practitioner

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In Oracle v. Google, the Federal Circuit reversed the Northern District of California and reinstated a jury’s infringement verdict against Google.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Foley Hoag LLP
Foley Hoag LLP
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In its recent opinion in Oracle v. Google, the Federal Circuit reversed the Northern District of California and reinstated a jury's infringement verdict against Google. The opinion is long and complex, and much ink has already been spilled by its critics. As a service to those of you sitting on the sidelines of this particular debate, here is our summary version of the case:

  1. What's the case about?

Oracle owns copyrights in software related to Java, a computer platform that allows a programmer to write one code and have it run pretty much anywhere, including your smart phone. This software includes "application programming interfaces," or "API packages." These packages contain elaborately organized collections of pre-written source code for certain common tasks. In other words, they are shortcuts for programmers.

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