SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A verdict is likely Monday in a high-profile trial over Oracle's claims that Google stole some of the technology used in its popular Android software for smartphones.
The jury ended last week in unanimous agreement on all but one of the issues being covered in the portion of the trial devoted to Oracle's allegations that Google infringed on the copyrights of the Java programming platform. Oracle Corp. bought Java as part of its $7.3 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2010.
U.S. District William Alsup dismissed the 12 jurors Friday afternoon with the hope that a weekend would give them time to reconsider the evidence and possibly come to agreement on the unresolved issue. The jury has already spent more than 25 hours in deliberations after hearing two weeks of evidence that included testimony from Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Google CEO Larry Page.
If there's an impasse, Alsup said he plans to accept a partial verdict and proceed to the next phase of the trial covering Oracle's claims that Google Inc. violated two Java patents in its creation of Android, which now powers more than 300 million smartphones and tablet computers.
Google says it only used parts of Java that have always been freely available. The company also argues its actions fall under the "fair use" provision of U.S. copyright law.
Oracle is hoping to win hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and a court order that would require Google to get a licensing agreement to keep using elements of Java in Android.
If the jury can't come to a unanimous agreement on a key copyright claim in the case, Oracle could prevail on other issues and be limited to collecting damages of less than $500,000.
Oracle shares were down 28 cents to $28.13 in premarket trading Monday. Google shares are off $1.97 at $595 in premarket dealings.
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