In a significant victory for Google, a jury earlier this week said the company did not infringe any of Oracle?s patents in its creation of the Android mobile operating system.

A lot is at stake in the ongoing case, with Oracle seeking $1 billion in retroactive licensing fees for the alleged infringement of its patents and as well as copyrights relating to the Java programming language. While the jury decided in Android?s favor on the patents issue, the copyrights portion of the case ? which potentially has the biggest implications ? is still undecided.

?This verdict is more of a sigh of relief for Google than any kind of validation,? said Dave Martin, senior vice president at Ignited, El Segundo, CA. ?Android has proven to be a viable product that?s still growing and evolving.

?Had they lost this infringement suit, it would have been a big setback,? he said. ?As it stands, I think Google is back to business as usual selling Android.?

Patent power
At issue in the suit was whether by using Java and then offering Android for free, Google prevented Oracle from licensing Java to mobile phone makers.

The patents in question in the case relate to a data processing enhancement and a method for generating code.

While there?s a chance Oracle will appeal the decision, the verdict follows Google?s announcement that it has closed its deal to acquire Motorola Mobility.

Despite the challenges the deal may bring Google in its relationships with other handset manufacturers, it also brings with it 24,000 patents. This may affect the balance in any intellectual infringement cases involving Google.

Google also continues to boost its mobile offerings, this week announcing an updated Google + app for Android and a redesigned interface for the Google Search app for the iPhone that provides faster results, full-screen image search and a simple way to access Google apps.

Copyright issue undecided
While the patents portion of the case has been settled, the issue of the copyrights is still be determined, which is the part of the case that could potentially have the biggest impact.

At issue in this portion of the case is Google?s use of 37 Java APIs, which are used by Android apps to access phone features such as its screen.

The question that needs to be answered by the judge is whether APIs, which are basically an instruction for how to write code to communicate with a given company?s system, are copyrightable. If they are determined to be so in this case, the implications would be widespread since APIs are so widely used.

Earlier this month, the judge put off a decision as to whether APIs could be copyrighted.

If Oracle were to win this portion of the case, almost every application on the market would have to have a license to use Oracle?s APIs.

Oracle is looking to leverage Java for a piece of the mobile ecosystem by enabling developers to create apps using Java APIs that would also run on Android devices. The company feels threatened by Android?s growth because Android code is not inherently compatible with Java.

?Many people do not see APIs as copyrightable,? said Jonathan Ezor , assistant professor of law at Touro Law Center, Central Islip, NY, and counsel to Olshan, New York.

?The notion that APIs may be covered by copyright laws and need some sort of licensing would be revolutionary,? he said. ?This would have the potential of going beyond Java or the Android system to really every level of development and every level of online systems.?

?This has real precedence setting value that will impact other companies.?