Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc.

Filing 1236

Statement re #1229 Order - ORACLE'S STATEMENT REGARDING FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMENTATORS - by Oracle America, Inc.. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit A, #2 Exhibit B, #3 Exhibit C, #4 Exhibit D)(Jacobs, Michael) (Filed on 8/17/2012)

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MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP
MICHAEL A. JACOBS (Bar No. 111664)
[e-mail]
KENNETH A. KUWAYTI (Bar No. 145384)
[e-mail]
MARC DAVID PETERS (Bar No. 211725)
[e-mail]
DANIEL P. MUINO (Bar No. 209624)
[e-mail]
755 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1018
Telephone: [phone] / Facsimile: [phone]
BOIES, SCHILLER & FLEXNER LLP
DAVID BOIES (Admitted Pro Hac Vice)
[e-mail]
333 Main Street, Armonk, NY 10504
Telephone: [phone] / Facsimile: [phone]
STEVEN C. HOLTZMAN (Bar No. 144177)
[e-mail]
1999 Harrison St., Suite 900, Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: [phone] / Facsimile: [phone]
ORACLE CORPORATION
DORIAN DALEY (Bar No. 129049)
[e-mail]
DEBORAH K. MILLER (Bar No. 95527)
[e-mail]
MATTHEW M. SARBORARIA (Bar No. 211600)
[e-mail]
500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065
Telephone: [phone] / Facsimile: [phone]
Attorneys for Plaintiff
ORACLE AMERICA, INC.

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

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ORACLE AMERICA, INC.

Case No. CV 10-03561 WHA

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Plaintiff,

ORACLE’S STATEMENT
REGARDING FINANCIAL
RELATIONSHIPS WITH
COMMENTATORS

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v.

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GOOGLE INC.

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Defendant.

Dept.: Courtroom 8, 19th Floor
Judge: Honorable William H. Alsup

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ORACLE’S STATEMENT REGARDING FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMENTATORS
CASE NO. CV 10-03561 WHA
sf-3184259

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Oracle welcomes the Court’s August 7, 2012 Order, as it believes that much of the

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copyright and fair use commentary that occurred outside of the courtroom before and during the

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pendency and trial of this case was instigated by Google or its direct or indirect representatives.

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Pursuant to the Court’s Order, Oracle identifies the following authors, journalists,

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commentators, or bloggers who have reported or commented on any issues in this case and who

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have received money (other than normal subscription fees) from Oracle or its counsel during the

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pendency of this action:

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Oracle has retained Florian Mueller, author of the blog FOSS Patents,
www.fosspatents.com, as a consultant on competition-related matters, especially relating to

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standards-essential patents. Oracle notes that Mr. Mueller fully disclosed his relationship with

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Oracle in a blog posting dated April 18, 2012; that Oracle retained him after he had begun writing

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about this case; and that he was not retained to write about the case. Mr. Mueller is a frequent

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critic of Oracle and was a leading advocate against Oracle’s acquisition of Sun Microsystems,

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Inc., which led to Oracle’s ownership of Sun's Java IP portfolio. A copy of Mr. Mueller’s

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disclosure is attached as Exhibit A at 5.

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Certain Oracle employees may have blogged about issues relating to the case. See, e.g.,

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https://blogs.oracle.com/hinkmond/ (blogging about Java ME). Oracle did not ask or approve any

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of its employees to write about the case and does not track employee bloggers.

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In view of the Order’s reference to treatise writers, out of an abundance of caution, Oracle

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notes that Stanford University Professor Paul Goldstein is Of Counsel to Morrison & Foerster and

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is the author of the treatise Goldstein on Copyright. Professor Goldstein has not commented on

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this lawsuit.

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In contrast, Oracle notes that Google maintains a network of direct and indirect

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“influencers” to advance Google’s intellectual property agenda. This network is extensive,

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including attorneys, lobbyists, trade associations, academics, and bloggers, and its focus extends

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beyond pure intellectual property issues to competition/antitrust issues. Oracle notes that

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Google’s extensive network of influencers has been the subject of recent press coverage. See,

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e.g., Exhibits B and C. Oracle believes that Google brought this extensive network of influencers
ORACLE’S STATEMENT REGARDING FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMENTATORS
CASE NO. CV 10-03561 WHA
sf-3184259

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to help shape public perceptions concerning the positions it was advocating throughout this trial.

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While it is Google’s obligation by the Court’s Order to disclose the full scope and details of this

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network as it relates to this case or the issues in this case, Oracle notes just two prominent

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examples: Ed Black, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Computer and

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Communications Industry Association, funded in large part by Google, has written specifically on

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the issue of copyrightability of APIs. See, e.g., Exhibit D. Jonathan Band was a co-author of the

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book, “Interfaces on Trial 2.0,” which Google cited in its April 3, 2012 copyright brief. Band’s

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indirect relationship to Google through Google supported trade associations is discussed in the

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August 10, 2012 Recorder article attached as Exhibit C.

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Dated: August 17, 2012

MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP
By: _ /s/ Michael A. Jacobs
Attorneys for Plaintiff
ORACLE AMERICA, INC.

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ORACLE’S STATEMENT REGARDING FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMENTATORS
CASE NO. CV 10-03561 WHA
sf-3184259

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