Patents surrounding Android are becoming a bigger issue everyday and the Oracle, Google suit has the potential to derail the Android train. In the latest legal filing in the case, FossPatents indicates that Google may be willing to settle out of court to make this go away.
It’s somewhat of a change for Google, as it has previously called the suit “baseless” and seemed willing to fight for this patent and for open source as a whole. According to a dissection of the filing by FossPatents:
The biggest news is that Google, which has so far dismissed Oracle’s assertions as if they had no merit whatsoever, has for the first time indicated in public (i.e., in a public court filing) its willingness to settle this case with Oracle. In a fundamental departure from the positions it previously articulated in its public filings and its public statements, Google clearly blinks. Here’s the sentence I mean — it makes references to Google’s proposal to require Oracle to narrow the case for the sake of efficiency (unless it’s stayed, which Google would prefer):
“Such a narrowed case will also eliminate the need for those efforts specifically directed at the claims rejected through reexamination, including motion practice, expert reports, and other trial preparation, as well as make it more likely that the parties could reach an informal resolution of the matter.”
He goes on to say that that it’s rare to mention the “informal resolution” in a filing to the court, especially this far ahead of the trial. Android has been besieged by patent attacks over the last year or so and Eric Schmidt recently said the company will take a more aggressive role in resolving these issues.
Even if Google has to give Oracle $4 or so for every Android handset from now on, it’s still possible for Google to make a ton of money off the platform. Of course, with 550,000 new Android handsets being activated a day, that licencing fee would quickly start to add up.
To be honest with you, I can’t do this post justice. Hit the via link below for an in-depth explanation of the case. It’s worth it.
[Via FossPatents, photo]