The judge in the case, William Alsup, has still to make an important ruling on whether the Java APIs can be copyrighted at all under U.S. law. That's a contentious issue and one that could have ramifications for programmers on other platforms.

He has been considering that question throughout the trial and could issue his ruling next week.

If Alsup decides the Java APIs cannot be copyrighted, the question of fair use becomes irrelevant for now, though Oracle is likely to appeal the judge's ruling to a higher court.

If Alsup rules that the Java APIs can be copyrighted, he will have to decide how to proceed on the question of fair use. One option, which Google favors, is to start the whole trial over before a new jury. Oracle's preference is to retain the infringement part of the verdict and have a new jury decide the question of fair use.

Alsup may also have another option. If he decides the Java APIs can legally be covered by copyright, Google is likely to appeal that decision. If it does, Alsup might let the higher court hear its appeal before making another jury consider the question of fair use. That way, if the higher court decides that the APIs can't be copyrighted, a second jury's time hasn't been wasted.