Florian Mueller:
>As always, let’s not forget that damages are only a “B” outcome for Oracle. The “A” outcome for Oracle is a permanent injunction, which would enable it to extract from Google whatever royalties it can command in a situation in which Android might otherwise go down the tubes. In that scenario, court-ordered damages for past infringement would become only a small part of the overall consideration.
This statement is actually quite amazing. The judges, media and Mueller all seem to believe that Oracle has a real case here. So what if — *what if* — Oracle’s judgement against Google is so cost prohibitive that Google has no choice but to build a new version of Android that does not infringe on Java patents, or any other patents?
That is, what if Google must pull Android for at minimum 12 months? Who grabs that market share? Apple? Microsoft? RIM?