From a purely economic point of view, I think it might make sense for Oracle and Google to reach a settlement even after the final judgment for Google (where the party who has something to lose, Google, would pay a little to Oracle, enough that both parties are economically better off than after the appeals process). I think such a deal could be kept entirely secret, the only hint for the rest of the world being that Oracle does not appeal. This is the same logic that patent trolls rely on. (That's also why I think it makes most sense for the loser, as the general rule to which exceptions can be made for good cause, to have to pay the winner's legal costs...)

Yet I think (and certainly hope) there's enough animosity between the parties that at least Google would not entertain such a deal. Probably neither would Oracle, and certainly not Oracle's lawyers, who have just suffered an embarrassing defeat :-)

There are, of course, other factors beyond the immediate economic reward. Google should be praised for not giving in to bullies like patent trolls, even if it in most cases would be in their immediate economic interests to settle rather than endure a costly litigation. If Google rewarded such aggressive behavior by even a small monetary settlement, they could soon expect to have many more trolls suing them. I think Google may also believe it stands to benefit from the legal principles established here, and now hope to have them validated in higher courts.

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