A US jury has handed Alphabet's Google a major victory in a long-running copyright lawsuit against Oracle Corp, saying the law allowed Google's use of Oracle's software to create its Android smartphone operating system.
The jury on Thursday unanimously upheld claims by Google that its use of Oracle's Java development platform was protected under the fair-use provision of copyright law, bringing trial to a close without Oracle winning any damages.
In a retrial at US District Court in San Francisco, Oracle claimed Google's Android operating system violated its copyright on parts of Java, a development platform.
Alphabet's Google unit said it should be able to use Java without paying a fee under fair use.
A trial in 2012 ended in a deadlocked jury.
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The trial was closely watched by software developers, who feared an Oracle victory could spur more software copyright lawsuits. However, investors saw little risk for Google.
Shares of Oracle and Alphabet were little-changed in after-hours trade following the verdict.
