Oracle is suing Google for patent and copyright infringement related to the use of Java in their Android Operating System (OS).

What happened?

Google developed Android and included a Java compatible technology called Dalvik with the phone operating system (OS).

Oracle claims that Google is using Java-derived technologies without a proper license, and that Google copied the entire hierarchical and organizational structure of the APIs into the Android source code.

Oracle also claims that Android‘s developers took a shortcut by not thinking of alternative names themselves.

Google copied 37 Java APIs, 458 classes, 158 Interfaces, 2,427 methods and 893 fields, claiming it was required for compatibility. An API is an Application Programming Interface.

Oracle argues that the structure as a whole is expressive and copyrightable.

Oracle and Java

In 2009 Oracle bought Sun Microsystems stock to the value of $7.4 billion giving Oracle Corporation sole ownership of Java and Solaris.

Oracle is the world’s largest enterprise software company.

Trade Marks

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and its affiliates.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, Solaris and the Network is the Computer are trademarks or registered trade marks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.