Well, we will see. But Google, by implication, suggests that had
Oracle proven authorship of each of the 37 apis (I'm confused, are these
packages or classes?), then there is an issue for trial.
As the Judge
asked, "You thought about that, today?" by which I understand
that Judge Alsup
believes this should have been raised in pre-trial motions.
I would
expect it likely that the Judge will agree with Google, but give
Oracle
a
chance to develop the evidence of authorship. Isn't the implication that Sun
wrote one of the substantial apis and its documentation sufficient for it to be
in
Court regarding infringement? Clearly, though, that should reduce the upside
for Oracle as the amount of infringement dissipates. Should Sun be
allowed to provide proof of authorship, Google may ask to take depositions in
which to challenge the authorship claim and, just like that, there's a delay
in the trial. Which would
not make the Judge happy as this would be a terrible
burden on the jury.
Mistrial? Suggest very strongly that Google stipulate
that Oracle as
successor to Sun are the authors of java.lang.*, java.net.*, and
thus may
proceed with a claim of infringement, even though the copyright was as
a
compilation and not collection? Solmonic wisdom applied and the claims are
whittled
down to over 18 apis that Google stipulates as authored by
Sun? But I
don't see the Judge letting
Google, even as they are right,
make the last nine days in court a total waste.
I have always felt that
Judge Alsup, while giving the parties full
opportunity to present their cases,
thought that this should have been settled
before trial. Google seems to be
right, and the Judge doesn't want to ignore the
point, but I don't think he's
happy that Google sprung this one at such an
advanced stage of the dispute. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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