Android has had its own share of controversies and allegations of IP misuse have come back to haunt the open source mobile platform from Google. There couldn’t have been a worse timing for Google to face this lawsuit from Oracle as Android reaches a critical mass (activating more than 200000 devices a day). In my memory Oracle is the third company that has raised its voice against the Android OS and perhaps the first company to direct a complain / lawsuit directly at Google in a direct manner.
Oracle has claimed that Android platform (OS / SDK) infringes on its Java related IP and Google has knowingly infringed upon their IP ever since the Android project came to Mountview around 2005. Oracle sees Android as a competing mobile platform to Java and is unhappy about Androids heavy reliance on Java based framework and at the same time use of some proprietary Java code (that Oracle acquired from Sun) in Android.
Oracle is seeking damages from Google for use of its technology and at the same time it wants Jave related work to be “impounded and destroyed or otherwise reasonably disposed of.” This could be serious. Of-course we are far from the end of this, but Microsoft and Apple who have targeted Android handset makers have some company now.
