A judgment by a Texas jury against Google could have major implications for the search giant and the open source world said experts.
According to BBC News, 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. The kernel is at the core of the open-source operating system meaning this verdict could be far-reaching.
The case resulted in a victory for a firm called Bedrock Computer Technologies which has also sued Yahoo, MySpace, Amazon, PayPal, Match.com and AOL.
But Google has said it will continue to defend against such attacks like this one on the open source community.
"The recent explosion in patent litigation is turning the world's information highway into a toll road, forcing companies to spend millions and millions of dollars defending old, questionable patent claims and wasting resources that would be much better spent investing in new technologies for users and creating jobs," said Google.
