Google and Oracle's $1bn court battle over Android set to begin Larry Ellison, chief executive and founder of Oracle, has been spoiling for a fight with Google since August 2010, when his company sued the web search giant over alleged infringement of its patents. Oracle said Google's Android mobile operating system has trampled over seven patents and copyright claims relating to Java, the programming language, which Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems at the start of 2010. Google has dismissed the allegations, arguing that it doesn't violate Oracle's patents and that Oracle cannot copyright certain parts of Java in the first place. When Oracle first took action, it was seeking $6.1bn in damages from Google. However, the web search business has successfully whittled Oracle's claim down to just two patents and a possible $1bn in damages. The court case, which saw a California jury sworn in yesterdayn Monday, is one of the biggest such tech lawsuits to date and promises some fireworks, regardless of who wins. Google's chief executive Larry Page is expected to be one of the first witnesses to take the stand, while Mr Ellison - the third richest man in America, with an apparent appetite for public spats - will also appear. Mr Ellison spent the 1990s warring with Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, and in October last year, colourfully accused Autonomy's chief executive Mike Lynch of having "a very poor memory or lying" about touting his company for sale. Mr Lynch denied the charge.