1.- LEGAL DISPUTES BETWEEN GOOGLE AND ORACLE
GOOGLE and ORACLE have faced each other in a Court in San Francisco. They discussed about the Android programming language and Java.
Oracle said that Android infringes two patents in Java, which it acquired from Sun Microsystems in 2009. It sought compensation for the breach.
Oracle also argued that Android breach its Intellectual Property rights on Java. Oracle argued that the language of computer programming is and can be protected as Intellectual Property. GOOGLE says it is not.
2.- SAS INSTITUTE vs WORLD PROGRAMMING
The situation is changing in Europe too.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (TJUE) has handed down a judgment, deciding a preliminary question of the High Court of the United Kingdom. It answers a question raised following a Claim by the U.S. software company SAS Institute against the British software company World Programming, for infringement of Intellectual Property: Copyrights.
The European Court has decided in its judgment (2.May.12) that, under European Union rules, the functionality of a computer program and programming language is not a form of expression of such software program. Therefore, it is not protectable as Intellectual Property, based on copyright rules.
The debate between software protection and the right to set up and create of new software is still open.
Santiago Nadal
