Tech major Google on Wednesday won a copyright case filed by Oracle that industry experts said could have set a major precedent for intellectual property rights suits in the future. Oracle had claimed Google broke copyright laws by using Java APIs – Application Programe Interfaces, or a set of codes – to develop its Android smartphone. Oracle owns Sun Microsystems, the company that developed Java, and had sought nearly $ 9 billion (Rs 60,000 crore approximately) in damages.

However, Google had countered this saying APIs should not be covered under copyright rules as this might threaten innovation. The San Francisco jury said Google’s use of the APIs fell under “fair use” of Java elements.

Oracle said it would appeal against the decision. Experts said if the court had ruled in favour of Oracle, it would be a setback in efforts to improve software compatibility, as uniform pieces of code help users across platforms, Vox reported.