Oracle and Google have now both filed the expected appeals of
the final order [PDF]in the API case Oracle lost to Google. Google lost on some tiny, side issues, but it does appeal them in a cross-appeal to Oracle's appeal, which was filed the day before:Notice is hereby given that Defendant Google Inc. cross-appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from the Final Judgment (Dkt. 1211) entered in this action on June 20, 2012, including, without limitation, the portion of that judgment entering judgment for Plaintiff Oracle America, Inc. on its claim for copyright infringement as to the rangeCheck code in TimSort.java and ComparableTimSort.java, and the eight decompiled files (seven �Impl.java� files and one �ACL� file). It also separately appeals the court's denial [PDF] of its motion [PDF] for a judgment as a matter of law:Notice is hereby given that Defendant, Google Inc. (hereinafter �Google�), appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from the Order Denying Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law and New Trial (Dkt. No. 1242) entered in this action on September 4, 2012.
So, what is Oracle appealing? Everything under the sun regarding the trial, except the denial of its own JMOL motion after the trial was concluded:
Notice is hereby given that Plaintiff Oracle America, Inc. (�Oracle�) hereby appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from the Final Judgment (Dkt. No. 1211) entered in this action on the 20th day of June, 2012, and from any and all other orders and rulings adverse to Oracle. I suppose that "any and all other orders and rulings adverse to Oracle" language might be an umbrella intended to include the denial of its
JMOL motion, actuallly, now that I'm reading the wording carefully. But what they really care about is getting a ruling that Java APIs are copyrightable, including "structure, sequence, and organization of the accused 37 Java API packages". That was their claim against Google, that it infringed those interfaces. Here's
the order Oracle didn't like on that point (Docket No. 1211). Appeals matter, as you can see.
I hope you also see why politicians are currently trying their best to stack the courts with judges who see things their way. People who want to win no matter how, and who believe in might-makes-right, view it as a great solution. But I hope you see why it is so important to keep politics out of the courts. What is the point of having a judicial system where you get rubber-stamped, political results, rather than
results based on the facts of your case? It makes a mockery of the concept of blind justice, not to mention Constitutional principles, meaning not looking at who the parties are but just evenly treating all comers, based on the law and the facts. The entire US system was originally designed to protect the little guy, the least powerful person in society, from the full power of the government. Folks who designed it had already experienced in Europe what it was like to be a minority group religiously or politically in a system where the king and his supporters would come to power and kill off or toss in prison members of opposing factions or just folks with the currently "wrong" religion or politics. The US wanted to be different. It wanted a system that would protect everyone by creating a system that did not follow the might-makes-right way of doing things, where even the most powerless was provided certain protections from the majority. Voting in judges, therefore, is probably the very last way you want to put them into office, frankly, as retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has been trying to tell the country for a couple of years now. Why? Because once the public loses all hope of fairness in the courts, it's a very sad day, because it breaks down the rule of law. Respect for the law and for decisions issuing from the courts is the glue that holds it all together, if you really think deeply about it.
The documents:
10/03/2012 -
1243 -
NOTICE OF APPEAL to the Federal Circuit as to [1211] Judgment by Oracle America, Inc.. Filing fee $ 455, receipt number 0971-7174810. - PLAINTIFF ORACLE AMERICA, INC.'S NOTICE OF APPEAL - Appeal Record due by 11/2/2012. (Jacobs, Michael) (Filed on 10/3/2012)
10/04/2012 - 1244 -
Transmission of Notice of Appeal and Docket Sheet to the Federal
Circuit Court of Appeals as to 1243 Notice of Appeal to the Federal
Circuit, by Oracle America, Inc. Appeal Record due by 11/5/2012.
(Attachments: # 1 Appeal
Information Sheet)(dtm, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/4/2012)
(Entered: 10/04/2012)
10/04/2012 - 1245 -
NOTICE OF APPEAL to the Federal Circuit of 1242 by Google Inc.. Filing
fee $ 455, receipt number 0971-7176729. Appeal Record due by
11/5/2012. (Hirsch, Steven) (Filed on 10/4/2012) Modified on 10/4/2012
(dtm, COURT STAFF). (Entered: 10/04/2012)
10/04/2012 - 1246 - Application for Refund, Receipt Number
0971-7176689 by Google Inc.. (Hirsch, Steven) (Filed on 10/4/2012)
(Entered: 10/04/2012)
10/04/2012 - 1247 -
Amended NOTICE OF APPEAL to the Federal Circuit as to 1242 Order on
Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law by Google Inc.. See receipt
number 0971-7176729 Appeal Record due by 11/5/2012. (Hirsch, Steven)
(Filed on 10/4/2012) (Entered: 10/04/2012)
10/04/2012 - 1248 -
NOTICE OF CROSS APPEAL as to 1243 Notice of Appeal to the Federal
Circuit, by Google Inc.. Filing fee $ 455, receipt number
0971-7177323. Appeal Record due by 11/5/2012. (Hirsch, Steven) (Filed
on 10/4/2012) (Entered: 10/04/2012)
The amended notice by Google is because the first one had the wrong docket number for the order being appealed. There are also trial exhibits filed in paper and other non-digital formats, which we'd love to get if anyone can stop by the court:
Filed & Entered:
10/03/2012 -
Exhibit
Docket Text: TRIAL EXHIBITS #3536, #3543, #3544, and #3547 Located in Vault, Section Wall "D". (rcs, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/3/2012)
We at Groklaw can cover the expense for you, which should be minimal. Email me please, if you can do this so we can all have a look. If you can scan them for us and send them to me that way, that would be ideal.
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