Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc.

Filing 1125

MOTION for Summary Judgment re Copyright Damages filed by Google Inc.. Responses due by 5/29/2012. Replies due by 6/5/2012. (Attachments: #1 Declaration of David Zimmer, #2 Exhibit A, #3 Exhibit B, #4 Exhibit C, #5 Exhibit D, #6 Exhibit E, #7 Exhibit F)(Van Nest, Robert) (Filed on 5/12/2012)

Download PDF
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 KEKER & VAN NEST LLP ROBERT A. VAN NEST - # 84065 rvannest@kvn.com CHRISTA M. ANDERSON - # 184325 canderson@kvn.com DANIEL PURCELL - # 191424 dpurcell@kvn.com 633 Battery Street San Francisco, CA 94111-1809 Telephone: 415 391 5400 Facsimile: 415 397 7188 KING & SPALDING LLP DONALD F. ZIMMER, JR. - #112279 fzimmer@kslaw.com CHERYL A. SABNIS - #224323 csabnis@kslaw.com 101 Second Street, Suite 2300 San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel: 415.318.1200 Fax: 415.318.1300 KING & SPALDING LLP SCOTT T. WEINGAERTNER (Pro Hac Vice) sweingaertner@kslaw.com ROBERT F. PERRY rperry@kslaw.com BRUCE W. BABER (Pro Hac Vice) 1185 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 Tel: 212.556.2100 Fax: 212.556.2222 GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP IAN C. BALLON - #141819 ballon@gtlaw.com HEATHER MEEKER - #172148 meekerh@gtlaw.com 1900 University Avenue East Palo Alto, CA 94303 Tel: 650.328.8500 Fax: 650.328.8508 13 14 Attorneys for Defendant GOOGLE INC. 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 16 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17 SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 18 ORACLE AMERICA, INC., 19 Plaintiff, 20 v. 21 GOOGLE INC., 22 23 Case No. 3:10-cv-03561 WHA GOOGLE INC.’S NOTICE OF MOTION, MOTION, AND MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Defendant. Dept.: Judge: Courtroom 8, 19th Floor Hon. William Alsup 24 25 26 27 28 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Page 3 I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 4 II. ARGUMENT .......................................................................................................................2 5 A. As a matter of law, Oracle could be entitled to a disgorgement remedy based on rangeCheck or the decompiled files only if it could first prove a causal link between the infringing files and some amount of Google’s gross revenue. ....................................................................................................................2 B. Given the evidence in the record, no reasonable jury could possibly find a causal link between Google’s use of rangeCheck or the eight test files and any Android revenues. .............................................................................................8 6 7 8 9 1. The trial record shows that rangeCheck has no link to Android revenue. ........................................................................................................8 2. The trial record shows that the eight decompiled test files have no link to Android revenue. ............................................................................10 10 11 12 C. 13 Oracle should be precluded from offering testimony about any alleged nexus between rangeCheck or the decompiled files and any Google revenue. ..................................................................................................................11 14 III. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................13 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 i GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 2 Page(s) 3 Federal Cases 4 Mackie v. Rieser 296 F.3d 909 (9th Cir. 2002) ............................................................................................. 4, 5, 6 5 6 On Davis v. The Gap, Inc. 246 F.3d 152 (2d Cir. 2001)............................................................................................... 6, 7, 8 7 Polar Bear Prods., Inc. v. Timex Corp. 384 F.3d 700 (9th Cir. 2004) ..................................................................................................... 4 8 9 Taylor v. Meirick 712 F.2d 1112 (7th Cir. 1983) ................................................................................................... 4 10 Woodford v. Ngo 548 U.S. 81 (2006) ..................................................................................................................... 7 11 Federal Statutes 12 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) ....................................................................................................................... 2, 3 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ii GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 2 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Defendant Google Inc. (“Google”) hereby moves for 3 summary judgment that Oracle America, Inc. (“Oracle”) cannot recover any of Google’s profits 4 based on infringement of Oracle’s copyrights in a file called Arrays.java, from which Google 5 copied a nine-line method called rangeCheck, and eight decompiled test files. This Motion is 6 based on the following memorandum of points and authorities in support, the Declaration of 7 David Zimmer (“Zimmer Decl.”) in support of this motion and accompanying exhibits, the entire 8 record in this matter, and on such evidence as may be presented at any hearing of this Motion, on 9 a date and at a time to be determined by the Court. The parties have met and conferred regarding 10 this Motion, and have agreed that Oracle will file an Opposition by 10:00 PM on Sunday, May 11 13, and that Google will waive its right to a Reply. 12 13 14 15 16 Dated: May 12, 2012 KEKER & VAN NEST LLP By: s/ Robert A. Van Nest_________ ROBERT A. VAN NEST Attorneys for Defendant GOOGLE INC. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 2 3 4 I. INTRODUCTION This Court should grant summary judgment for Google on Oracle’s right to recover any of 5 Google’s profits based on infringement of Oracle’s copyrights in (1) a 3,000-line file called 6 Arrays.java, from which Google copied a nine-line method called rangeCheck; and (2) eight 7 decompiled test files, which were copied by a third-party contractor called Noser in violation of 8 Noser’s contract with Google and unwittingly used by Google (and which never actually 9 appeared on any Android phone). Oracle has no evidence, and cannot possibly prove, that 10 Google earned any revenue causally linked to either the nine lines of rangeCheck or the eight 11 superfluous test files. 12 Oracle’s only possible argument for disgorgement is legally baseless. Oracle has argued, 13 and will argue in response to this motion, that all it needs to do is offer the amount of Google’s 14 gross revenue for Android, at which point it can sit back and relax as the burden shifts to Google 15 to prove its deductible costs and the portion of its Android profits not attributable to the nine lines 16 and eight files. This fundamentally misunderstands how copyright damages work. Before the 17 burden shifts to Google, Oracle must prove an amount of gross revenue that is causally linked to 18 the infringing work—which is the two Android files containing rangeCheck and the eight test 19 files, not all of Android. The Android platform contains over 15,000,000 lines of code, including 20 168 API packages, a virtual machine, an applications framework, and numerous applications. 21 Settled Ninth Circuit law makes clear Oracle cannot just wave its hands at a gross revenue 22 number for the entire platform without showing how the infringed files contributed to the 23 adoption of that platform or the sale of Android phones. 24 Oracle has no such evidence and no witness on its witness list who could be competent to 25 offer it anyway. After Oracle’s damages expert failed to analyze literal-copying damages in 26 either of his first two reports, the Court barred him from offering such testimony at trial. Jan. 9, 27 2012 Order [Dkt. 685] at 10. Oracle’s counsel even admitted in Court just yesterday that it had 28 no expert testimony that could prove a causal link. RT 3788:25-3789:1 (Boies). Neither does it 1 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 have any fact testimony to offer; it has no witness on its list who could speak to the issue of how 2 the infringing files caused Google to make money from Android. And the trial record to date is 3 replete with evidence showing those files did not generate any revenue. First, the rangeCheck 4 method makes up an almost imperceptible fraction of the 15 million lines of code in the Android 5 platform—less than .00006%, or six ten-millionths, of Android’s total content. The evidence in 6 the trial record shows that the method is trivial and could be written by a good high-school 7 programmer, was not even in Android when it was launched, and has not been in Android for 8 over a year now. Second, the eight test files are likewise trivial—they never even appeared on 9 any Android phone, the devices that generated every penny of the revenue Oracle wants to claim. 10 It is inconceivable that any of these files contributed even a penny to Android’s profits. 11 The Court has reacted skeptically to Oracle’s disgorgement claim, commenting at various 12 times that the claim “borders on the ridiculous,” “would be way out there,” and is “the height of 13 ridiculousness.” RT 2892:13, 23-24, 3720:20-22. It is. Consistently throughout this case, Oracle 14 has tried to peg its damages claims to “Android” generally, rather than any incremental benefits 15 to Google of the specific, limited infringing technology. But copyright law, favorable though it 16 might be to a plaintiff seeking an infringer’s profits, forecloses that strategy without some proof 17 of a causal link. There is and could be no such proof here. The Court should grant summary 18 judgment on the issue for Google. 19 20 II. A. ARGUMENT 21 As a matter of law, Oracle could be entitled to a disgorgement remedy based on rangeCheck or the decompiled files only if it could first prove a causal link between the infringing files and some amount of Google’s gross revenue. 22 Oracle has no right to disgorgement of Google’s profits based on Google’s infringement 23 of rangeCheck because it has no evidence that Google made any revenue attributable to the 24 copyrighted work that was found infringed. See 17 U.S.C. § 504(b). Oracle has always tried to 25 maximize its damages by presenting this case as an epic struggle between its entire Java platform 26 and Google’s whole Android platform, but the Court has always—rightly—rejected that effort 27 and directed Oracle to focus on the specific intellectual property and alleged infringing features at 28 issue. Just before opening statements, the Court reiterated this basic point: 2 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 3 But, Mr. Jacobs, you must remember. I’m going to say to the jury many times in this case: The issue is not Java. It’s not Android. It’s very specific parts about Java that are protected, if at all, by copyrights or patents and very specific parts of Android that are accused. So if we start getting off onto this is Java versus Android, the judge is going to intervene and say it’s not. 4 RT 21:21-22:2 (emphasis added); see also July 22, 2011 Order Granting in Part Motion to Strike 5 First Cockburn Report [Dkt. 230] at 5-6 (rejecting damages analysis based on purported harm to 6 all of Java from the entirety of Android). 2 7 The jury did not find that Google’s Android platform infringed Oracle’s Java platform. It 8 found only that two Android files, TimSort and ComparableTimSort, infringed a single Java file 9 called Arrays.java based on the nine-line rangeCheck method. The Court subsequently found as a 10 matter of law, May 11, 2012 Order [Dkt. 1123], that eight Android test files also infringed eight 11 Java files. In other words, the infringing works here are ten files out of many tens of thousands in 12 the 15,000,000-line Android platform. See Final Charge to the Jury (Phase One) [Dkt. 1018] ¶ 13 29, at 15 (“For purposes of Question No. 3, the “work as a whole” is the compilable code for the 14 individual file except for the last two files listed in Question No. 3, in which case the “work as a 15 whole” is the compilable code and all the English-language comments in the same file.”); Special 16 Verdict Form [Dkt. 1018] at Question 3(a) (calling for verdict on infringement by TimSort files). 17 It was Oracle that asked, over Google’s objection, for the jury instructions that led to the 18 specific findings of file-to-file copying. RT 2414:20-2418:13 (Charging Conference). The Court 19 overruled Google’s objection and gave Oracle the instruction it requested. Id. Oracle 20 undoubtedly wanted a charge that defined the “work as a whole” narrowly—as individual Java 21 files, not the entire Java platform—in order to increase its chances of an infringement verdict on 22 its literal copying claims and decrease the chances that the copied materials would be found to be 23 de minimis in the vastness of the Java platform. Oracle got what it wanted, but now it must live 24 with the consequences for damages purposes. 25 The expressly limited scope of the jury’s verdict means we are no longer talking generally 26 about Google’s “Android revenues” with respect to wrongful profits. Oracle must prove that 27 Google made an identifiable amount of revenue from the infringing work—the two Android files 28 containing the rangeCheck method and the eight test files. The Ninth Circuit has laid out this 3 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 standard repeatedly, explaining that an infringer may not just point to a gross revenue number that 2 is not sufficiently closely linked to the infringing item. Most recently, in Polar Bear Prods., Inc. 3 v. Timex Corp., 384 F.3d 700, 710-12 (9th Cir. 2004), the Ninth Circuit explained that, 4 “[a]lthough the statute references only the broad term ‘gross revenue,’ to conclude that a 5 copyright plaintiff need only provide the company’s overall gross revenue, without regard to the 6 infringement, would make little practical or legal sense.” Id. at 711. Instead, “the causation 7 element of the statute serves as a logical parameter to the range of gross profits a copyright 8 plaintiff may seek.” Id. “The standard is straightforward: a copyright plaintiff is bound to no 9 more and no less than its statutory obligation to demonstrate a causal nexus between the 10 infringement and the profits sought.” Id. at 712. Even where an infringer “derived some 11 quantum of profits from the infringement because its infringement was part of” a larger part of its 12 business, “it nevertheless remains the duty of the copyright plaintiff to establish a causal 13 connection between the infringement and the gross revenue reasonably associated with the 14 infringement.” Id. at 715 (citing On Davis v. The Gap, Inc., 246 F.3d 152, 160 (2d Cir. 2001)) 15 (emphasis added). “Only then would [the infringer] bear the responsibility for apportioning 16 profits.” Id. This is the law in other circuits too. As Judge Posner wrote nearly thirty years ago, 17 19 It was not enough to show [defendant’s] gross revenues from the sale of everything he sold, which is all, really, that [plaintiff] did. If General Motors were to steal your copyright and put it in a sales brochure, you could not just put a copy of General Motors’ corporate income tax return in the record and rest your case for an award of infringer’s profits. 20 Taylor v. Meirick, 712 F.2d 1112, 1122 (7th Cir. 1983). In other words, Oracle is seeking to shift 21 the burden too soon. Before Google has to make any showing, Oracle first must prove up not 22 Google’s gross revenue generally, or even Google’s gross revenue from the Android platform as a 23 whole, but an identifiable amount of gross revenue that is causally linked to the infringement. 18 24 Polar Bear only repeated what the Ninth Circuit had previously made clear. In Mackie v. 25 Rieser, 296 F.3d 909 (9th Cir. 2002), the Ninth Circuit held that, to the extent it seeks 26 disgorgement of a defendant’s indirect profits, “a copyright holder must establish the existence of 27 a causal link” between the infringement and any such indirect profits. Id. at 914. In this context, 28 indirect profits are those resulting from “revenue that has a more attenuated nexus to the 4 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 infringement” than revenue from “selling an infringing product.” Id. Thus, in order to obtain a 2 disgorgement of Google’s profits from either Android-related advertising revenue or Android- 3 related application revenue—both of which are indirect profits under Mackie—it must prove that 4 there is a causal link between the infringement of Arrays.java or the eight decompiled files and 5 Google’s revenues. This requires a “threshold inquiry into whether there is a legally sufficient 6 causal link between the infringement and subsequent indirect profits”—exactly what Google is 7 asking the Court to conduct on this motion. Id. at 915. “Such an approach dovetails with 8 common sense—there must first be a demonstration that the infringing acts had an effect on 9 profits before the parties can wrangle about apportionment.” Id. “[A] copyright holder must 10 proffer sufficient non-speculative evidence to support a causal relationship between the 11 infringement and the profits generated indirectly from such an infringement.” Id. at 915-16. 12 Oracle has no such evidence here; it has never even tried to offer any. 13 In Mackie, the copyrighted work at issue was a sidewalk art installation called “The Dance 14 Steps.” Id. at 912. The defendant Reiser had incorporated a photograph of the work into a 15 collage illustrating Seattle culture, which was then incorporated into a promotional brochure for 16 the “Pops” series of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, which was also a defendant in the case. Id. 17 Among other remedies, Mackie sought disgorgement of any of the Symphony’s profits allegedly 18 attributable to the promotional brochure. Id. at 912-13. 19 20 21 The Ninth Circuit held that Mackie had failed to carry his initial burden to establish gross revenues casually connected to the Symphony’s infringement: 25 Intuitively, we can surmise virtually endless permutations to account for an individual’s decision to subscribe to the Pops series, reasons that have nothing to do with the artwork in question. For example, was it because of the Symphony’s reputation, or the conductor, or a specific musician, or the dates of the concerts, or the new symphony hall, or the program, or the featured composers, or community boosterism, or simply a love of music, or . . . ? In the absence of concrete evidence, Mackie’s theory is no less speculative than our effort in this paragraph to enumerate even a relatively short list of the myriad factors that could influence an individual’s purchasing decisions. 26 Id. at 916. Even had Mackie been able to offer evidence tending to show that a percentage of the 27 Symphony’s sales were tied to the infringing brochure, “such a rudimentary analysis cannot 28 determine how many of those individuals subscribed because of Rieser’s work.” Id. at 916 22 23 24 5 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 (emphasis in original). Because the collage that incorporated a photograph of Mackie’s artwork 2 was “but one page in a multi-page brochure that advertised a series of concerts that were 3 unrelated to the artwork itself,” the Ninth Circuit flatly rejected Mackie’s theory as “[r]ank 4 speculation” that was legally insufficient to support a claim for indirect profits. Id. Oracle’s 5 proof here is far more speculative than even Mackie’s inadequate evidence, given that there is so 6 much more content in Android as a whole than in a single promotional brochure. If the Mackie 7 photo was a needle in the brochure’s haystack, Android contains thousands upon thousands of 8 haystacks. The rangeCheck method is but nine lines in over 15 million lines of code for Android, 9 RT 2179:19-23 (Astrachan), and the eight test files at issue never appeared on an Android phone, 10 RT 1319:15-1320:6 (Mitchell), and thus could never have caused any consumer to purchase a 11 phone, much less to use any of the Google-hosted services (like search, advertising, and 12 applications) that actually generated Android-related revenue for Google. 13 In its last brief on this issue, Oracle’s Br. in Response to Court’s Questions (“Oracle Br.”) 14 [Dkt. 1106] at 4-8, Oracle offered the glib and erroneous argument that, because the copied files 15 are part of Android, all it needs to do to carry its burden is point to a gross revenue number for 16 Google’s Android business unit, including all revenues from advertisements, digital content, and 17 anything else. But its own lead case rejects that argument. Oracle cited On Davis, 246 F.3d at 18 160, for the proposition that, if a copyright owner proved infringement of a poem, it would satisfy 19 its initial burden by identifying the infringer’s gross revenue from “the sale of the anthology 20 containing the infringing poem.” Id. Fair enough. But directly after making that statement, the 21 On Davis Court made clear that “we do not think the plaintiff’s statutory burden would be 22 discharged by submitting the publisher’s gross revenue resulting from its publication of hundreds 23 of titles, including trade books, textbooks, cookbooks, etc.” Id. The latter example is far closer to 24 what Oracle is trying to do here, but even that comparison significantly understates the vast 25 difference between nine lines of rangeCheck and the 15 million lines in the Android platform. If 26 the rangeCheck method were analogous to a poem, the “anthology” would be the 900-line 27 TimSort file; it would certainly not be Android. The larger platform includes not only 168 API 28 packages (of which rangeCheck is but one method in two class files), but an operating system, an 6 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 applications framework, a virtual machine, and numerous applications. It is no mere poetry 2 anthology. It is an entire warehouse of books, videos, music, and all the necessary apparatus for 3 reading and playing all those media. On Davis explicitly refutes the idea that this Court could 4 simply assume a causal link between something as minute as nine lines of code and eight test files 5 and gross revenues from something as massive as Android. 6 Moreover, even leaving the quantitative problems with Oracle’s case alone and focusing 7 on quality, rangeCheck is nothing like a poem in an anthology. Oracle’s counsel admitted this in 8 court last week in arguing, unsuccessfully, for judgment as a matter of law on Google’s fair use 9 defense: “Obviously, software is not a symphony. Software is not a poem.” RT 3368:17. 10 (Jacobs). When consumers buy a poetry anthology, it is reasonable to assume they do so because 11 of the content of that anthology—and equally reasonable to infer that a single infringing poem 12 might have played some causal role in the purchase. But there is no evidence supporting the 13 argument, and it would make no sense to assume, that Google’s Android-related revenues are 14 somehow connected to the presence of rangeCheck on some Android devices and eight test files 15 that never made it onto a phone. For Google to make money from Android, it is necessary but not 16 sufficient for a consumer to buy an Android phone, and there is no evidence that rangeCheck or 17 the test files caused any consumer to buy a phone. And, even if there were, Google does not 18 make money off any phone until a consumer uses that phone to conduct a Google search, tap on a 19 Google-hosted advertisement, or purchase an application from GooglePlay (formerly Android 20 Market). There is (and could be) nothing in the record to support a finding that rangeCheck plays 21 any role in enabling, or persuading a consumer to access, any service that generates revenue for 22 Google. The test files, which are not even contained on the phones consumers purchase, cannot 23 have any influence over a consumer’s use of Google-hosted services. Oracle does not even have 24 evidence suggesting a correlation between rangeCheck and the decompiled files on the one hand 25 and Google’s revenues on the other. And, of course, even establishing correlation would not 26 establish a causal connection between the literal copying claims and Google’s revenues. Cf. 27 Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 95 (2006) (“this mistakes correlation for causation”). There is no 28 causal link here. 7 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 Even Oracle’s damages expert, who is forbidden from offering testimony on this issue, 2 agrees that profits are recoverable only if they can be causally connected to infringing acts. Third 3 Cockburn Report (Feb. 9, 2012) at 235, ¶ 643 (“I also understand that, as with actual profits, the 4 infringing acts must have had an effect on profits”). Dr. Cockburn then explained why he 5 believed that the APIs “materially enhanced” Android revenues, triggering § 504(b)’s burden- 6 shifting. Id. at 236, ¶ 645. This makes clear that until two days ago, even Oracle recognized that 7 it was required to demonstrate a causal relationship between the infringement and the revenue 8 before being entitled to lost profits. It also makes clear that Oracle’s failure to offer any expert 9 testimony—or any other testimony—on this issue was no mere oversight, but a reflection of the 10 fact that no evidence of a nexus exists. 11 B. 12 Given the evidence in the record, no reasonable jury could possibly find a causal link between Google’s use of rangeCheck or the eight test files and any Android revenues. In a more fundamental sense, Oracle’s failure of proof on Google’s gross revenues related 13 to the copied files is beside the point, because the argument that any of Google’s Android profits 14 could possibly be the result of Google’s use of that material in Android defies belief. No 15 reasonable jury could reach that conclusion. To the contrary, the record establishes that, between 16 them, rangeCheck and the test files are responsible for exactly 0.0% of Google’s revenues. 17 18 1. The trial record shows that rangeCheck has no link to Android revenue. To begin with, as the Court noted after the jury rendered its verdict, rangeCheck makes up 19 a tiny fraction of the Android platform in a quantitative sense. It is nine lines of source code out 20 of a platform that contains more than 15 million lines, RT 2179:19-23 (Astrachan), amounting to 21 .00006% of Android. That does not qualify even as de minimis. 22 But rangeCheck is indisputably insignificant as a qualitative matter too. The testimony at 23 trial, from both sides of the aisle, has been unequivocal that rangeCheck is a “very short simple 24 method” that checks three parameters of an array: the starting point, the end point, and that the 25 end point is greater than the starting point. RT 813:7-8, 815:5-9 (Bloch). Josh Bloch, who wrote 26 rangeCheck, testified that “[a]ny competent high school programmer could write” that method. 27 RT 815:13-16 (Bloch). Even Oracle’s expert Dr. Mitchell conceded that “a good high school 28 8 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 programmer” could write rangeCheck with guidance. RT 1316:24-25 (Mitchell). 2 In addition to being trivial to create and easily replicable by a beginner, rangeCheck offers 3 no performance benefit to Android. The rangeCheck method is nine lines out of a file called 4 TimSort. Bloch testified that TimSort is useful to Android because it makes arrays sorts much 5 faster. RT 812:19-813:3 (Bloch). But Bloch also made clear that not one bit of that performance 6 improvement is due to rangeCheck, as opposed to the other 900-plus lines of code in TimSort. 7 RT 814:1-4. In fact, rangeCheck is a “private method” that is “not part of the API.” Its 8 declaration cannot be called from outside of the TimSort class, only from within that class, so it 9 cannot have an effect on any other file in Android. RT 813:12-25 (Bloch). Oracle did not cross- 10 examine Bloch on these points, much less offer evidence to contradict him. 1 11 Moreover, rangeCheck was not even in Android when Google announced the platform in 12 November 2007 and made its code available to handset partners for inclusion on phones. Neither 13 was rangeCheck in Android when the first Android phones were released in October 2008. Bloch 14 did not even join the Android team until December 2008 or January 2009. RT 733:8-11 (Bloch). 15 He finished TimSort at some point in early 2009, at which point he contributed that file both to 16 Sun’s OpenJDK project and to Android. RT 822:4-9 (Bloch). Further, rangeCheck has been out 17 of the current release of Android for about a year. RT 825:8-19 (Bloch); RT 1700:25-1701:10 18 (Rubin). The proven facts that both the platform’s initial adoption by handset makers and carriers 19 and its recent growth happened in the absence of rangeCheck are additional reasons why no 20 reasonable jury could link any of Android’s profits to the temporary inclusion of those nine lines 21 in Android. 22 Oracle’s lone piece of contrary evidence is that the rangeCheck method is allegedly called 23 2,600 times when powering on a smartphone or starting an emulator. Oracle Br. [Dkt. 1106] at 24 3:13-17 (citing RT 1329:5-21 (Mitchell)). This is vacuous. It is meaningless to cite an arbitrary 25 number of calls to a given method in the absence of context, and neither Dr. Mitchell nor any 26 1 27 28 Dr. Mitchell testified that “I found a number of other source code in other files that called that function,” RT 1329:13-14 (Mitchell), but the phrase “a number of other source code” is barely intelligible. Dr. Mitchell never actually identified any Android file outside of TimSort that called rangeCheck, or explained how that could be possible for a private method like rangeCheck. 9 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 other witness testified whether rangeCheck was called any more or less than any other method in 2 the Android software, during the startup sequence or any other time. In the world of sophisticated 3 and ultrafast computer microprocessors, 2,600 calls to a function during the startup sequence of a 4 smartphone could be a low number relative to other functions. There is nothing in the record to 5 enable the Court or a jury to tell either way. Equally, just because a software function is called 6 frequently does not mean it is important; it would stand to reason that a trivial nine-line piece of 7 code that accomplishes a Programming 101 parameter test, like rangeCheck does, might be 8 invoked fairly frequently. Dr. Mitchell never opined that there is any correlation between the 9 number of calls to a function and its significance, much less that rangeCheck itself is significant. 10 He certainly did not say that rangeCheck offered a performance boost to Android—and Bloch, 11 who wrote it, made clear it does not. 12 For all those reasons, even if Oracle had any evidence (and it doesn’t) of Google revenue 13 causally linked to the TimSort files, it would make no difference. Google has carried its burden 14 of proving that none of its Android profits are attributable to rangeCheck. 15 16 2. The trial record shows that the eight decompiled test files have no link to Android revenue. Oracle also seeks disgorgement of Android profits on the basis of the copying of eight test 17 files—files that were incorporated by Noser into Android code in contradiction to the express 18 instructions of Google as set forth in the Noser-Google contract. RT 1696:21-1698:10, 1701:1819 21 (Rubin); RT 1798:17-1803:6, 1810:11-13 (Bornstein); TX 2765 at 11. Like with the TimSort 20 files, Oracle can present no causal link between the eight test files and any Android revenue. 21 As Oracle’s expert conceded, the eight testing files do not appear on Android handsets. 22 RT 1318:20-1320:6 (Mitchell). In other words, there is no interaction whatsoever between users 23 of Android devices and the eight test files. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Oracle has proffered no 24 evidence, either at trial or in its expert reports, to support a finding that these eight files have any 25 causal effect on Android revenues generated by user activity on the handsets. See Third 26 Cockburn Report (Feb. 9, 2012) at 235-36, ¶ 645. In fact, these files were removed from current 27 releases of the Android platform more than a year ago to no moment. RT 1807:25-1810:1 28 10 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 (Bornstein). Accordingly, Oracle cannot as a matter of law establish a right to any damages other 2 than statutory damages for these eight test files. 3 C. 4 Oracle should be precluded from offering testimony about any alleged nexus between rangeCheck or the decompiled files and any Google revenue. Not only is the argument that the copied files generated any Android revenue implausible, 5 and not only does the evidence in the record already prove that those files had no impact on 6 Android revenues, Oracle has no possible vehicle for offering any contrary evidence in a damages 7 phase that could create a factual dispute on this issue. 8 As the Court knows, Oracle has always shot for the moon when it has come to damages in 9 this case, choosing to offer evidence only of Google’s gross revenue from the Android platform 10 as a whole. Oracle’s damages expert Dr. Iain Cockburn could have presented a gross revenue 11 figure allegedly linked to rangeCheck or the test files in either his of his first two damages 12 reports, but he never made the attempt. Instead, after ignoring copyright damages altogether in 13 his first report, Dr. Cockburn’s second and third reports offered an opinion only as to alleged 14 gross revenue from all Android ad and applications sales. Second Cockburn Report (Sept. 15, 15 2011) at 186-88, ¶¶ 463-68, & Ex. 22 (presenting Android gross revenue calculation through 16 2011); Third Cockburn Report (Feb. 9, 2012) at 235-37, ¶¶ 643-49, & Ex. 22 (same). Indeed, 17 based on Oracle’s and Dr. Cockburn’s deliberate choice to focus on Android revenues generally, 18 the Court barred Oracle from offering any expert opinion on damages for any of Oracle’s literal 19 copying claims, including the claims for infringement of rangeCheck and the test files: 20 21 22 23 Dr. Cockburn has not adequately valued that [allegedly copied] code in his report and cannot do so at trial. This order holds that the jury will be instructed that if Google is found not liable for infringing the selection, arrangement, and structure of the API packages, then Dr. Cockburn’s copyright damages analysis is inapplicable. Jan. 9, 2012 Order [Dkt. 685] at 10. Oracle chose to maximize its potential damages recovery by 24 focusing on the structure, sequence, and organization of the Java API packages and using the 25 alleged literal copying as window dressing. Oracle’s counsel conceded, as he had to, that Oracle 26 cannot offer expert testimony to sustain its burden of proving Google’s revenue causally linked to 27 the infringement. RT 3788:25-3789:1 (Boies). 28 11 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 Neither does Oracle have any fact witness on its witness list who could offer evidence of a 2 causal link between Android revenues and the rangeCheck method, the two Android files 3 containing that method, the API package containing those files, or the Android core libraries, the 4 eight test files, or any other possibly divisible component of the Android platform. In fact, not 5 only did Oracle prepare no expert and disclose no fact witness on this subject, it never disclosed 6 the underlying damages theory at any time during discovery. 7 Oracle first disclosed its damages theory, as Rule 26(a) requires, in its December 2, 2010 8 initial disclosures. There, Oracle did not refer to the rangeCheck method or the decompiled files 9 at all. Indeed, the only fact Oracle disclosed relating to damages at all was that Eric Schmidt had 10 said Android’s revenues were “large enough to pay for all of the Android activities and a whole 11 bunch more.” See Zimmer Decl. Ex. A (Oracle’s 12/2/10 Disclosures) at 7:6-7. Oracle also 12 noted that it had not completed its damages calculation, because “it will require expert evaluation 13 of information in Google’s possession.” Id. at 6:10-11. Oracle twice supplemented this response, 14 but neither supplemental response referred to the rangeCheck method or the decompiled files, 15 much less stated any facts suggesting a causal link between that material and any Android 16 revenue. See Zimmer Decl. Ex. B (Oracle’s 6/3/11 Disclosures), Ex. C (Oracle’s 8/10/11 17 Disclosures). Both supplemental responses referenced Oracle’s damages expert’s reports— 18 which, as noted above, omitted any discussion of literal copying damages. See Zimmer Decl. 19 Exs. B, C. 20 Oracle’s failure to disclose any evidence supporting this theory continued throughout the 21 discovery period. On January 6, 2011, Oracle answered Google’s first set of interrogatories, 22 including Google’s Interrogatory No. 1, which asked for a detailed statement of “Oracle’s factual 23 bases for each allegation of damage or harm that Oracle claims to have suffered as a result of any 24 act or omission of Google.” Zimmer Decl. Ex. D (Oracle’s 1/6/11 ’Rog Responses) at 1:7-8. 25 With regard to its “claim for recovery of Google’s profits attributable to the infringement,” Oracle 26 disclosed various facts about Google’s revenues and business model, but stated no facts tying 27 those revenues to rangeCheck or the eight decompiled files. Id. at 3:5-4:8. Oracle also noted that 28 it would provide further information about its claimed damages, including about “disgorgement 12 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 of Google’s profits from the infringement,” when it served its damages expert’s report. Id. at 2 5:24-6:4. Oracle twice supplemented this response, but neither supplemental response disclosed 3 any facts related to the rangeCheck method or the decompiled files. See Zimmer Decl. Ex. E 4 (Oracle’s 4/25/11 Supp. ’Rog Responses) at 5:11-6:16; Zimmer Decl. Ex F (Oracle’s 7/29/11 5 Supp. ’Rog Responses) at 6:1-18. 6 In short, Oracle has never disclosed any intent to rely on testimony from any fact witness 7 to establish a nexus between Google’s infringement and its Android-related revenues. Instead, 8 Oracle has always taken the position that it would rely on expert testimony to connect the dots 9 between any alleged infringement and Google’s revenues, but, as already noted several times, Dr. 10 Cockburn never connected those dots and eventually the Court ruled he was forbidden from 11 trying. Dr. Cockburn only ever opined that Google’s Android-related revenues are causally 12 linked to Google’s use of the structure, sequence, and organization of 37 API packages in the 13 J2SE platform, material Google was not found liable for infringing. Third Cockburn Report (Feb. 14 9, 2012) at 227-37, ¶¶ 624-649. 15 None of this is surprising, because Oracle came up with its current disgorgement theory 16 only days ago, when the jury failed to return a liability verdict on the SSO. While the jury was 17 deliberating on its copyright claims, Oracle conceded it had no remedy for any of its literal 18 copying claims besides statutory damages. RT 2775:25-2776:1 (Mr. Boies: “[T]hat, I believe, 19 would only be statutory damages on [Verdict Form Question] 3”). It was only on this Monday, 20 after the jury delivered its partial verdict on copyright issues, that Oracle announced it might seek 21 disgorgement of Google’s profits based on its literal copying claims. 22 Oracle is long since out of time. Oracle repeatedly failed to disclose a factual basis for its 23 disgorgement remedy on the copied files, and has never disclosed any witness on that subject. It 24 is unclear what evidence Oracle possibly could offer of a causal link, but it would be deeply 25 unfair to allow Oracle to spring that surprise on Google now, at the very end of trial. 26 III. CONCLUSION 27 For all the foregoing reasons, this Court should not conduct a trial on Oracle’s entitlement 28 to disgorgement of profits for Google’s infringement of the nine-line rangeCheck method and the 13 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02 1 eight test files. The Court should grant summary judgment for Google on that issue. 2 3 Dated: May 12, 2012 KEKER & VAN NEST LLP 4 5 By: 6 /s/ Robert A. Van Nest ROBERT A. VAN NEST Attorneys for Defendant GOOGLE INC. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 14 GOOGLE INC.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT RE COPYRIGHT DAMAGES Case No. 3:10-CV-03561 WHA 665150.02

Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


Why Is My Information Online?