The old rivalry between tech giants Google and Oracle seems to hardly ending ever as the top officials don’t miss a chance to hit each other whether it be in the real or the virtual world. In fact, in a latest dose of attacks, Eric Schmidt, Chairman strongly refuted Larry Ellison’s recent claims against the search giant Google using Oracle’s technology.
During a Google+ hangout session on Monday, Eric Schmidt, Chairman, Google in his typical style took on Oracle and CEO Larry Ellison openly. “We typically try to avoid getting dragged into public battles with other companies. But I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Larry Ellison’s claims that Google “took [Oracle’s] stuff”. It’s simply untrue — and that’s not just my opinion, but the judgment of a U.S. District Court,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt refuted the recent claims against the company and CEO Larry Page by pointing at some of the fact. “Here are the facts. In 2012, after Oracle sued Google for patent and copyright infringement in a case involving Java and Android, a jury found that we had not infringed Oracle’s patents,” he pointed out.
Further, “And the Court ruled that copyright could not be used to block others from using the “structure, sequence and organization” of APIs, the language that allows different computer programs and systems to talk to each other,” Schmidt said .
“The ruling protects a principle vital to innovation: you cannot copyright an idea, like a method of operation. For example, no one can copyright the idea of adding two numbers together. This case goes to the heart of the current and much-needed debate about patent reform. Patents were designed to encourage invention, not stop the development of new ideas and technologies,” he continued.
“And getting that right is what really matters. I know all of the above because I was heavily
involved at Sun with Java and I had the privilege, thanks to Oracle, of testifying in this trial,” Schmidt concluded in his Google+ session.
Now, it will be interesting to see how Oracle and outspoken CEO Ellison responds to Schmidt.