• Associated Press et al., Friday, August 13, 2010 3:26 PM

Challenging Google's ascendant mobile strategy, Oracle on Thursday filed a patent and copyright-infringement lawsuit against the search giant. Oracle claims that Android infringes on its patented Java technology.

"In its complaint ... Oracle said Google's Android operating system software consists of Java applications and other technology," reports The Associated Press. "As such, it infringes on one or more parts of seven different patents -- something Google should know, Oracle argues, because it has hired former Sun Java engineers in recent years."

Oracle also said Google's Android mobile OS infringes on Oracle's copyrights in Java, which can be used as a platform for building applications for computers, Web sites, smart phones and other mobile devices.

"While ... Oracle did not specify the amount of damages it will seek, one analyst said the stakes could be high," writes Mercury News. "But he also suggested the lawsuit may be a strategic move by Oracle in the course of a larger negotiating effort."

Remarks The Register: "The legal broadside is in some ways reminiscent of the legal offensive Sun launched against Microsoft in 1997 over the same technology," which took nearly a decade to settle and eventually cost Microsoft over $1 billion. Worse still, "Many of the most explosive allegations -- that Microsoft intentionally misappropriated Java to blunt its write-once-run-anywhere promise -- were later incorporated into an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department and more than a dozen states."

Long term, "Microsoft could be a winner in Oracle's patent attack over Java," writes ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley. "Microsoft likely will benefit from the fallout of the suit to some degree as developers and customers wonder and worry about the fate of Android-based phones. The Oracle vs. Google lawsuit also may boost the Microsoft .Net to a degree, as .Net's No. 1 rival is Java."

Notes eWeek: "Some characterize [the suit] as a battle in the making ever since Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems" in January.

Indeed, "Not a big surprise," Java creator James Gosling said in a blog post. "During the integration meetings between Sun and Oracle where we were being grilled about the patent situation between Sun and Google, we could see the Oracle lawyer's eyes sparkle."

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