Google Asks for a Mistrial in Oracle Lawsuit Based on "Fair Use" Issue

Google threatened that it was going to call for a mistrial in the copyright infringement lawsuit from Oracle and indeed it has, presenting papers to the court asking it to put the issue of whether it infringed on Oracle's copyright with its Java API in Android through a new trial.

The jury found that Google was infringing, but could not say whether the infringement was fair use. It could be argued that, if the issue is deemed fair use, there can't be talk of any infringement or, otherwise, if the jury believes Google is infringing, then that's not fair use.

That's the angle Google is going for as well, saying that the two issues can't be divided and asks for a retrial on both, therefore annulling the "infringement" decision of the jury.

Oracle, on the other hand, is asking the court to decide on the fair use matter itself, but to keep the "infringing" decision.