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Open-source code violations mounting in Oracle-Google case

Sifting through Android codebase, Florian Mueller of FOSS patents blog is now saying that there is new evidence that Google could have violated Oracle's trademarks related to Java.

Oracle early last year acquired Sun, who originally developed Java. A few months later, Oracle sued Google for patent infringement and violating copyrights. Google surprisingly did not countersue, which could point to the fact that it was perhaps aware of the issues at hand.

Some elements of Java allegedly have been directly copied to Android 2.2 (Froyo) and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), says well-known tech consultant Mueller, who crusades against software-related patents.

He has documented his findings with code specifics over nine files available on docstoc.com: File 1, File 2, File 3, File 4, File 5, File 6, File 7, File 8, File 9.

Mueller further goes on to state that the growing evidence will make it more difficult for Google to countersue Oracle. He says that companies such as Oracle holding patents and copyrights have a motivation to go around looking for violations, and that developers are more interesting in development than checking for patent/copyright violations.

He advises developers:

"If you are or become aware of copyright or patent issues that expose developers and users of open source software (Android or other key projects) to a major risk, please talk to the developers so they resolve any such issues at their earliest opportunity -- such as before a behemoth like Oracle files a suit."