The jury deciding whether Android violates Oracle's Java-related copyrights has reached a unanimous decision on three of the four questions it is tasked with answering, but will break for the weekend and deliberate again Monday on the unresolved issue.
As you know, Oracle accuses Google of infringing Java copyrights and patents in the Android mobile operating system. The copyright portion of the trial has ended. Jurors reportedly told Judge William Alsup that they have reached a decision on all but one of the questions, and a court hearing was held today in which Alsup and the two sides' lawyers discussed whether to hear a partial verdict and then move on to the patent portion of the case.
Instead, Alsup told the jury to keep working on the copyright questions Monday, according to reports in ZDNet and other sources. Of the four questions, only three are consequential, because the fourth question was asked for advisory purposes to help Alsup make decisions that aren't left up to the jury. But it is one of the first three matters the jury has not ruled unanimously upon.
Exactly which question is holding things up has not been revealed. The jury is ruling on whether Google violated the law by using 37 Java API packages, whether Google's use of documentation related to the Java API packages counts as infringement, and whether other violations occurred involving the use of source code, English language comments in Java files, and methods.
If the jury is still deadlocked Monday, it could still deliver a partial verdict, allowing the trial to move on to Oracle's allegations of patent infringement.
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