Oracle wants to update its copyright lawsuit against Google to include Android's current market domi

2021-04-28
Supriya Kurane
Bengaluru——————

(Reuters) - Oracle Corp has asked a U.S. judge for permission to update its copyright lawsuit against Google Inc to include the Android operating system's current market dominance.
 

The move by Oracle is its first since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the case to continue and suggests the litigation could be far from over.
 

The closely watched case involves how much copyright protection should extend to Java programing language, which Google used to design its Android smartphone operating system.
 

Google's Android operating system is the world's best-selling smartphone platform. Oracle sued Google five years ago and is seeking roughly $1 billion in copyright claims.
 

Oracle said it wants to update the copyright lawsuit, filed in October 2010, to add that Google continues its copyright infringement through updated versions of Android in both existing and new markets and this is resulting in harm to Oracle and benefit to Google.
 

"The record of the first trial does not reflect any of these developments in the market, including Google's dramatically enhanced market position in search engine advertising and the overall financial results from its continuing and expanded infringement," Oracle wrote in a letter to Judge William Alsup on Wednesday.
 

A Google representative declined to comment.
 

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an appeals court's ruling that allows Oracle to seek licensing fees for the use of some of the Java language. Google had said it should be able to use Java without paying a fee.