Another huge win for Google as judge throws out the copyright claims by Oracle

U.S. District Judge William Alsup made a key decision on Thursday in the Google v. Oracle case. He dismissed Oracle's claims that the APIs that Google used were copyrightable.

Just last week, a jury found that Google did not infringe on Oracle's patents, which was a big win in itself. The copyright claims were one of the key issues though as Oracle was seeking $1 Billion dollars from the software giant for 37 Java APIs. Oracle has predictable promised to be appeal, but it looks like they've all but lost at this point.

This is a big win for Google, but as we've said before, it's a shame that these trials have to happen in the first place. Millions of dollars will continue to be poured into legal fees until the software patent issue is resolved.

Source: The Guardian

Samsung throws in free extended battery if you buy the Galaxy Nexus from it

Just a quick heads up that if you buy the Verizon Galaxy Nexus directly from Samsung, ol' Sammy's gonna throw in a free 2100 mAh extended battery and battery door. That's with a two-year contract, of course, and the phone itself costs $299. Use the link below if you're in the market.

More: Samsung Direct

German court said enough is enough, throws two patent between Samsung and Apple cases

A Manheim regional court in Germany today launched two disputes between Samsung and Apple patents: the first on Apple ' s trial on Samsung ' s technology 3 G/UMTS, the second on Samsung ' use of s slide to unlock gesutres on its devices. The negative decision of Samsung is the third in a row in Germany, while the decision against Apple is the first of two, the second scheduled for a hearing March 16.

The Court decision comes just a few weeks after a Court in Munich decided that Motorola had indeed infringed on Apple ' patent s slide to unlock, resulting from changes being made to Motorola ' s unlock feature.

Today ' s decision is just a drop in the bucket, as it is of at least 14 disputes between Samsung and Apple pending in Germany, with more to start around the world. Samsung has already promised to call today ' decision, while Apple will probably do the same.

The back and forth between Apple and other manufacturers is by no means complete, but it is refreshing to see a judge as fed up with her as everyone is. With Apple, Samsung, Motorola and HTC all set to release some heavy devices - hit in the coming months, we ' ll be sure to keep you posted as the ravages of the war on.

Source: free software patents