Supreme Court Reverses Federal Circuit Finding Google’s Android Platform Made Fair Use of the Java API
April 8, 2021
Authored and Edited by Samuel V. Eichner; Eric S Magleby; Margaret A. Esquenet
After eleven years of litigation, two jury trials, and multiple appeals, on April 5, 2021, Google LLC prevailed in its defense of Oracle America, Inc.’s copyright infringement claims over Google’s use of Java API declaring code in early versions of the Android smartphone platform. In a 6-2 decision (Justice Barrett did not take part in the consideration or decision of the case), the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit’s ruling, sidestepping the question of whether Oracle’s Java API was copyrightable, and finding that, even assuming that it was, Google’s use of certain portions of that API constituted fair use under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
Read the full IP Update here.
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