To this end, "Oracle can talk about what the law ought to be, what principles should be applied to these facts," Naughton said. "But they will also have to take on why Alsup's description of the Java language may be a little bit of an oversimplification. They need to challenge the premise of Judge Alsup's analysis and show the situation is more complicated than how he described it."

But Alsup brought a unique quality to the case, revealing recently that he has a background in computer programming, which helped him understand the issues in the case. When Oracle goes to an appeals court, the person sitting on the bench may not have the same depth of knowledge as Alsup, making its attorneys' jobs potentially even more difficult.

"Alsup is more technical than your average judge," Naughton said.

However, "lawyers who deal with technology cases have to translate some technical things in ways nontechnical people can understand. That's the skill of good appellate lawyers."

Oracle's lawyers will likely "comb back" through the testimony in the original case in search of evidence that shows the Java APIs constitute "more than just methods of operation," he said.