Android Java may infringe copyright: US appeals court

A U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that Oracle Corp is entitled to copyright protection over certain parts of the Java programming language in a high profile lawsuit against Google Inc.

The issue, decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, is being closely watched by software developers in Silicon Valley.

Google’s Android operating system is the world’s best-selling smartphone platform. Oracle sued Google in 2010, claiming that Google had improperly incorporated parts of Java into Android.

A San Francisco federal judge had decided that Oracle could not claim copyright protection on parts of Java, but on Friday a three judge Federal Circuit panel reversed that ruling.

More on Oracle, Google, and Android

China probes IBM, Oracle, EMC after Snowden leaks

Oracle plugs 42 holes in Java security

Google-Oracle paid-bloggers probe ends

Android does not infringe on Oracle patents: Jury