Oracle is finding itself caught up in another Java-related patent lawsuit, but this time it's the one getting sued.
Java middleware vendor Thought filed suit against Oracle on Oct. 31, claiming that WebLogic Server and other Oracle products infringe at a "massive scale" on a number of patents it holds.
FEATURED RESOURCE
PRESENTED BY SCRIBE SOFTWARE
10 Best Practices for Integrating Data
Data integration is often underestimated and poorly implemented, taking time and resources. Yet it
LEARN MORE
[ Discover what's new in business applications with InfoWorld's Technology: Applications newsletter. | Get the latest insight on the tech news that matters from InfoWorld's Tech Watch blog. ]
[ Which freaking PaaS should you use? InfoWorld helps you decide. | Get the latest insight on the tech news that matters from InfoWorld's Tech Watch blog. ]
Using the open-source Java programming language, Thought created a "middleware mapping layer for saving object and table information and greatly simplified the task of persisting data," according to its complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Oracle gained control of Java through the acquisition of Sun Microsystems.
Thought incorporated the technology into its CocoBase product, which was released in 1997 and since has been "licensed widely to numerous customers and partners over the years," the complaint adds.
Between October 1997 and February 2004, 28 requests for an evaluation version of CocoBase were received from email addresses connected with Oracle domain names, the complaint states. From September 1997 to June 2003, Thought also received 118 evaluation copy requests from email addresses with domain names associated with Sun Microsystems, it adds.
On May 2, 2002, Thought founder Ward Mullins emailed Oracle middleware executive Ted Farrell, the complaint states. Mullins "identified certain technologies covered by Thought's current and then-pending patent rights so that Oracle would not 'accidentally violate [Thought's] intellectual property.'"
The complaint also refers to an August 2003 email sent by Thought employee Dan Wilson to Craig Russell, then of Sun and now an Oracle employee. In the email, Wilson "declined an invitation from Russell to participate in a conference to develop a new Java Data Objects specification, called JDO2," the complaint states. "Wilson declined to participate due to potential adverse effects on Thought's patent and pending patent rights."
