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OraGoogle - The Jockeying for Position Begins in Earnest with Dueling Protective Orders - Updated: the Order

By Pamela Jones et al.

The Oracle v. Google Java litigation now begins in earnest, with each side offering a proposed protective order, along with a handy table of the disputed provisions. Say, I think Groklaw has a claim for prior art on that kind of table.

: D

Here are the issues the parties met and discussed but couldn't resolve without the judge's help:

Pursuant to the Court's November 19, 2010 Case Management Order (Dkt. No. 56), a form of protective order was to be submitted by December 10, 2010. The parties met and conferred in good faith and reached agreement on all but two issues: whether any in-house counsel would have access to information of the highest designation, and whether a prosecution bar would attach to persons accessing designated information. The parties respectfully request the Court's assistance in resolving these issues.

That last one is about a paragraph Google wants included but Oracle apparently is fighting, a restriction in its proposed order that anyone who gets to view highly confidential information, as in "attorneys eyes only" or source code, can't be involved in prosecuting patents or applications for patents involving Java, Android, mobile platforms and devices, or virtual machines before any US or foreign agency for two years thereafter unless the person gets written permission.

Google didn't just fall off a turnip truck, y'all. It clearly realizes that there is a mobile phone war afoot, that companies like Microsoft and Apple want to crowd out Android with patents, and it knows that a lot of information can be obtained in discovery in litigation, which is sometimes the reason people file lawsuits. And it knows that sometimes parties with a common interest work together behind the scenes in ways Google is a tad sick of and would like to prevent happening further, so it wants protection not only from public disclosure but "from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation". Google never forgets, or at least I never would if I were Google, that Apple's CEO and Oracle's are best buds.

Full post as published by Groklaw on December 14, 2010 (boomark / email).