Google Beats Oracle In Landmark Case Involving Use Of Java APIs In Android

Alphabet Inc. on Thursday won a jury verdict in a long-running case against Oracle Corp. involving Google's use of Java code in the creation of its mobile operating system, Android. The court battle, begun in 2010, revolves around bits of code called application programming interfaces, or APIs. Google used Java APIs in developing Android, and has said in court documents that it does not believe the code is copyrightable. Oracle, which acquired the maker of Java, Sun Microsystems, for $5.6 billion in 2009, received a mixed jury verdict in 2012 in the first trial for the case, but a judge invalidated the ruling. After an appeals fight that was considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, a retrial in California ended Thursday with the jury ruling that Google's use of the Java APIs was "fair use" in the eyes of the law.