Google Fined $5 Million For Linux Patent Infringement
A Texas jury has found Google guilty of infringing a patent related to the Linux kernel, which is at the core of Google’s server farm. The patent is held by Bedrock Computer Technologies LLC. The patent-in-suit is U.S. Patent No. 5,893,120 on “methods and apparatus for information storage and retrieval using a hashing technique with external chaining and on-the-fly removal of expired data”.
The jury have ordered Google to pay a $5 Million fine for the past infringement up to the court date, and it is presumed Google are now expected to have to pay royalty fees.
$5 Million isn’t a lot of money with resources like Google, but the problem is that Bedrock is now in a pretty strong position to collect royalties from other Linux users, especially those utilizing Linux for large server operations.
A judgement by a Texas jury against Google could have major implications for the search giant and the open source world said experts. The internet titan was found guilty of infringing a patent related to the Linux kernel and fined $5m (3.2m). The software is used by Google for its server platforms and could also extend to its Android mobile platform.
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