Oracle sued Google over a ‘hamburger,’ Java-Android jury told

Robert Van Nest showed the jury a menu with only “hamburger” written on it and likened it to the packages of Java programming code Oracle claims Google stole to build its Android operating system.

Van Nest backed up his theme by reminding jurors in San Francisco federal court that Sun Microsystems, which developed Java, blessed and appreciated Google’s use of the “free and open” code.

Having adopted the hamburger comparison Schwartz used in his testimony, Van Nest quoted the ex-Sun CEO saying “absolutely, yes,” when asked whether Sun marketed not just Java, but specifically the code packages as free and open.



Besides the potential for one of the largest jury verdicts in U.S. history, a win for Oracle could change how software is protected and licensed.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup has told the jury it’s already been established that the Internet giant infringed Oracle’s copyrights on the code.

Witnesses for Google, including Schmidt, testified the company didn’t need to license the Java code packages, called application programming interfaces, to build Android.

Oracle lawyers scored points in the trial by revealing emails that showed Google executives and engineers expressed concern as they built Android that they needed and didn’t get a license for Java.