Late on Friday, October 7, Oracle and Google submitted their lists of witnesses for their patent and copyright infringement trial. The trial is formally still scheduled to begin on Halloween but "will likely be postponed".
I'll show you the document and discuss the most notable names below:
11-10-07 Oracle Google Witness ListsLarry Ellison (Oracle's founder and CEO)
Oracle volunteers his testimony "regarding Oracle's reasons for acquiring Sun Microsystems; the importance of Java to Oracle's business; Oracle's use and licensing of Java prior to its acquisition of Sun; the effort and resources that Oracle has invested in developing Java; Oracle’s Java licensing business; the pre-lawsuit Java-related discussions between Oracle
and Google; and the harm caused by Android".
Google wants Mr. Ellison to "testify about negotiations and communications relating to Oracle's acquisition of Sun, including communications about either Java or Android; Oracle's valuation of Java; Oracle's business plans with regard to Java, both pre- and post-acquisition; Oracle's management of Java post-acquisition; Oracle's efforts in the mobile computing space; Oracle's participation in and communications with the Java Community Process; his and Oracle's communications to the public, Google and third parties about Android, open sourcing and/or Oracle's defensive use of patents and copyrights; and communications with Google regarding Android. He also may testify concerning documents on the exhibit list that are either authored by or were sent to him".
Eric Schmidt (Google's Chairman and former CEO; previously Sun Microsystems' CTO)
Oracle expects Mr. Schmidt to "testify regarding Google's Java-related discussions with Sun and Oracle; Google's awareness of Sun's Java intellectual property rights and the need for Google to obtain a Java license for Android; his knowledge of Java technology and Sun's Java licensing practices from his tenure at Sun; the benefits associated with Java and Google's lack of alternatives; Google's business plan and marketing strategy for Android, including the acquisition of Motorola; benefits to Google from Android; Google's revenue and profit projections for Android, including advertising revenues; Google's efforts to prevent Android fragmentation; and facts relating to Google’s willful patent and copyright infringement.
Google doesn't have him on its list of witness certain to be called but says he "may testify about communications between Sun and Google concerning a potential technology partnership in the mobile computing space; Google's efforts to develop a mobile platform, and Google's business model and goals in the mobile market; communications with Sun and Oracle regarding Android; Google’s background, history, product development, advertising business, and revenues; and Sun's communications to the public and third parties about Sun's position on copyrightability, licensing and enforcement of alleged intellectual property rights. He also may testify concerning documents on the exhibit list that are either authored by or were sent to him".
Larry Page (Google's co-founder and CEO)
Oracle expects him to "testify regarding Google's Java-related discussions with Sun and Oracle; Google's awareness of Sun's Java intellectual property rights and the need for Google to obtain a Java license for Android; the benefits associated with Java and Google's lack of alternatives; Google's business plan and marketing strategy for Android, including the acquisition of Motorola; benefits to Google from Android; Google's revenue and profit projections for Android, including advertising revenues; Google's efforts to prevent Android fragmentation; and facts relating to Google's willful patent and copyright infringement".
Like his chairman and CEO successor-predecessor Mr. Schmidt, he is not on Google's must-testify list. However, according to Google he "may testify about Google's acquisition of Android; negotiations between Sun and Google for a potential technology partnership in the mobile computing space; Google's efforts to develop a mobile platform, and Google's business model and goals in the mobile market; communications with Sun and/or Oracle regarding Android; and Google's background, history, product development, advertising business, and revenues. He also may testify concerning documents on the exhibit list that are either authored by or were sent to him".
Scott McNealy (former CEO and chairman of Sun Microsystems)
Oracle may ask him to "testify regarding Sun's Java business and Java licensing; Java-related discussions between Sun and Google; Oracle's acquisition of Sun; the interest of Sun and its Board of Directors in preventing Java fragmentation, enforcing Java intellectual property rights, and protecting Java licensing revenue; and Sun's position regarding Google's release of Android and the harm caused by Android".
James Gosling (former software engineer and CTO at Sun Microsystems; widely credited with being the "Father of Java" and inventor of one of the patents-in-suit)
According to Oracle, "{h]e will testify regarding the inventions of the '104 patent [which he invented] and their benefits; the development history, design, and innovations of the Java platform, including the Java virtual machine and class libraries; the creation and importance of the Java APIs; and the importance of Java implementation compatibility and Sun's efforts to ensure compatibility and prevent fragmentation".
Other notable names
Oracle's list of "may present" witnesses includes Oracle President and CFO Safra Catz: "She may testify regarding Oracle's reasons for acquiring Sun Microsystems; the importance of Java to Oracle’s business; Oracle's use and licensing of Java prior to its acquisition of Sun; the effort and resources that Oracle has invested in developing Java; Oracle's Java licensing business; the pre-lawsuit Java-related discussions between Oracle and Google; and the harm caused by Android."
Obviously, Android chief Andy Rubin is also going to testify. It also comes as no surprise that Tim Lindholm, the author of an email that is potentially "damning" for Google, will appear.
Google has lined up Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems' last (and in many people's opinion, worst ever) CEO. He was mentioned in some of Google's internal emails that are in the case file, such as one about Sun at some point eyeing a Red Hat-style Android distribution. Schwartz previously gave some testimony supportive of Google, claiming not to have objected to Android's use of Java.
If and when this trial takesp lace, there will definitely be some interesting testimony to watch...
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