Google Inc. fired back at Oracle Corp., denying that the Android operating system infringes Oracle’s patents and copyrights and accusing the software giant of attacking the open-source licensing policies it used to support.
The Internet-search giant asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to dismiss Oracle’s lawsuit and also asked the judge to declare the patents in question invalid.
Oracle’s suit, filed in August, is part of a surge in patent complaints in the fast-movingmobile-phone market—with Google’shit Android software a particular focus. Others have indirectly taken aim at the software by targeting cellphone makers that use it; Apple Inc. in March sued HTC Corp., while Microsoft Corp. last week sued Motorola Inc.
The Oracle-Google case also attracted attention because it involves open-source programming, an increasingly popular practice that gives programmers wide freedom to modify and distribute software. Android is licensed on an open-source basis and given away to handset makersfor free.
Oracle’s complaint against Google stems from its purchase of computer maker Sun Microsystems nc. for $5.6 billion earlier this year. Sun developed Java, software that includes a programming language and associated technologies that are widely used in server systems, cellphones and other products. Oracle accused Google of seven counts of patent infringement and one count of copyright infringement associated with Java.
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