Oracle-Google trial puts ex-Sun execs on opposite sides

Oracle, which acquired Sun and the Java brand in January of 2010, contends that Google'sAndroid mobile platform infringed on intellectual property related to Java APIs and two patents.

Former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, testifying for the defense on Thursday, stated that Java APIs were not considered proprietary or protected by Sun, as long as Google didn't use the Java name for its Android platform.

A year later, Vineet Gupta, chief strategy and innovation officer of Sun's OEM software systems engineering, mentioned bringing out the "IP hammer" on Google:

The complaints from Sun executives

Despite the complaints from Sun executives, Schwartz maintained in his testimony that as long as Google didn't brand Android "Java" in any way there was nothing, from his perspective, that Sun could do to bring Google into the alignment Sun wanted.

Yet, in the five years that Google was developing Android and talking partnership and licensing with Sun, long afterwards phones based on the platform were in the market and afterwards years of internal discussions at Sun including IP hammers, Sun didn't file any patent or copyright claims against Google. It wasn't until Oracle acquired Sun that the lawsuit against Google was launched.

The Sun culture

The Sun culture, similar in many ways to Google's in its engineering esprit de corps, pioneered open source and sharing code. The tension behind the practical business side and the more idealistic engineering is in evidence in the differing views of McNearly and Schwartz.

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