A federal jury in the US ruled that Google didn't infringe Oracle's patents on Java technology, the Wall Street Journal reports. Oracle sued Google in August 2010, alleging that the Android mobile software infringes patents and copyrights that protect Java. The verdict marks the end of the second, patent phase of the trial. A third phase, to determine whatever damages Google may owe, will wait until proceedings resume 29 May. The first part of the trial, which had covered Oracle's claims that Google infringed copyrights that protect Java, ended with a mixed verdict. It found that Google infringed on a relatively small portion of Java code protected by copyright, though Oracle has indicated it would pursue a significant amount of related damages. On the matter of copyrights protecting key Java interfaces, the jury found that Google had infringed, but couldn't decide whether or not its use was protected by the so-called fair use doctrine, which allows for some appropriation of copyrighted works.
