A US appeals court has ruled that Oracle is entitled to copyright protection over certain parts of the Java programming language in a high profile lawsuit against Google.

The issue, decided by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, is being closely watched by software developers in Silicon Valley.

Google’s Android operating system is the world’s best-selling smartphone platform.

Oracle sued Google in 2010, claiming that Google had improperly incorporated parts of Java into Android.

A San Francisco federal judge had decided that Oracle could not claim copyright protection on parts of Java, but on Friday a three judge Federal Circuit panel reversed that ruling.

The shortcut tools created by Java to perform basic functions like connecting to the Internet are eligible for copyright protection, the court ruled today.

Oracle had sought more than $1 billion in damages for its claims that Google used Java code without paying because it was in a rush to create Android, which has become the most popular platform for smartphones.

The case split the technology industry between those who write interface code and those who rely on it to develop their software programs.

Agencies