Contributed by: Justin Ellis
I have seen quite a few opinions floating around in various blogs on the Internet about Google's apparent, new-found evilness, now that it has been sued by Oracle for infringing a number of patents. I have had more than one discussion in which I have had to remind someone that being accused of infringing patents is not the same as infringing patents. In this case, before Oracle can even bring its argument to court, many of its claims must first survive reexamination. After reexamination even those claims that survive are still subject to various arguments and defenses that will be brought forth by Google to persuade the Court that it is not actually infringing. To put a little perspective on the matter, the subject patents contain a total of 168 claims. Of those claims, 132 of them are subject to reexamination. The USPTO is not yet done reexamining all of those claims, but thus far it has rejected 83 claims and confirmed only 18; not a very good rate for Oracle. The takeaway from this is that one should refrain from making judgment against or for either party in this mess until the process has moved forward enough that any such judgment may be considered more than just a wild guess. Additionally, if you happen to find yourself at the receiving end of a cease and desist letter or demand for royalties based on patent (or copyright, or trademark, or any) infringement, you would do well to consult an expert before simply caving in to the other party's demands.
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