Back in August, Oracle sued Google over alleged use of copyrighted java code in its Android operating system. After Google insisted that the suit was baseless, the case kind of fizzled out. Now, Oracle is revising their original suit to include line by line examples of patent infringement by Google, as shown by ZDnet.
Image Source: ZDnet
While the code is slightly different in places, Oracle believes that the comparisons exhibited are “nearly identical…on a line-for-line basis.”
Christopher Dawson, writing for ZDnet, believes that Oracle’s play on Google is not just about money. While Oracle’s monetization of Sun has a lot to do with filing suit on IP claims whenever possible, Dawson believes that Oracle really wants a piece of the mobile market. Considering the potential PR backlash that suing a company like Google entails, he believes that there is a broader tactical strategy behind the suit other than pure cash settlements. In fact, the Wall Street Journal is confused about the whole lawsuit in the first place. Why would Oracle go after Google, of all companies? There are plenty of smaller fish to fry in the wide world of Java development. This only furthers Dawson’s point that Oracle is looking to force Google into some kind of deal that latches them onto the back of the mobile computing revolution that Android is a big part of.