Re-examinations can actually take three or four years, and even longer, Daniels said in an interview Friday. "There have been re-exams in there for 10 years."

Meanwhile, the re-examination process could potentially cause a substantial delay to the actual trial, as Google could ask the judge to issue a stay while the USPTO does its work, according to Daniels.

But one may not be granted, since Oracle and Google are competitors, according to Daniels. While Oracle does not compete with Google in the Android market, there is overlap between the companies such as in productivity suites.

"If the patentee and the accused infringer are not direct competitors [and] the patent is found by the PTO to be valid and found by the court to be valid and infringed, the court can award damages to the patentee, and he is happy because the only damage done to the patentee can be quantified in money, e.g., lost royalties," he said.