The Judge in the Oracle versus Google case appears to be delivering the message that he really can't be bothered to devote the huge amount of time being demanded by the plaintiffs.

If you have been following the unfolding saga of Oracle v Google you know that three weeks ago Judge William Alsup attempted to persuade the opposing parties to limit the scope of the trial in order to make it "triable" in a reasonable amount of time, see Oracle v Google - Judge limits scope of trial.

However, Oracle didn't want to accept the idea of limiting the numbers of its claims against Google to three (out of 132) and instead proposed that it continue to pursue a minimum of 21, saying that it intends to show at least one claim in respect of each of the seven patents infringed by Google. Oracle would allow Google four prior art references per claim - amounting to 84 in total. Google's suggested compromise was that Oracle be permitted from 10 to 14 claims, i.e., up to 2 claims per patent.

Now the Judge has decided to leave open the question of the number of claims until the pre-trial conference. The decision as to whether the trial should be postponed pending the re-examination of the disputed patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is similarly shelved until then.

According to Groklaw:

"Basically the judge is saying: "You don't deserve any more time for this trial than any other plaintiff, and my court is awfully busy. If you insist on making this a long and difficult trial, then don't expect me to schedule it any time soon or before the reexamination is complete." So this largely throws the issue back to Oracle - either Oracle simplifies the case (and thus shortens the time for trial) by its own accord, or the court will wait for the USPTO to simplify the case through the reexamination process. Google would likely be happy with either approach."

Meanwhile Google has hired an additional law firm, Keker & van Nest, that states about itself:

"We take the tough cases - the make or break cases where companies, careers, and reputations are riding on the result."

So even though there's a good chance there will not be a trial in a few months time it is obviously still making preparations.

Previous articles:

Oracle v Google - Judge limits scope of trial
Further moves in Oracle versus Google lawsuit

Oracle sues Google for Android Java use

Google v Oracle - progress at last?