Nine jurors thought Google's use of the APIs (application programming interfaces) should be considered fair use, Greg Thompson, the jury foreman, told reporters outside the courtroom. But the other three jurors, including Thompson, did not buy that argument.

The jury's verdict had to be unanimous, so the nine-to-three split meant that the jury ended up not answering one of the most significant questions in the trial. That's one reason why the legal fight between Google and Oracle over Android is not over yet, even though Google emerged largely victorious from this battle.

Oracle sued Google in August 2010, arguing that its Android OS infringes Java-related patents and copyrights that Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems. The trial was held in two phases, the first to address the copyright claims and the second for the patent allegations.

The jury rendered its verdict Wednesday that Google had either of the two Java-related patents at stake. With the over the earlier copyright question, there were no damages for them to decide on and they were dismissed.

On the copyright question, the jury agreed that Google infringed Oracle's copyrights by copying 37 Java APIs into Android. But they couldn't agree whether that infringement was protected by fair use, the doctrine that defines when copying may be allowed.