"I would assume this is a several million dollar trial," Penn Law Professor R. Polk Wagner told Ars today. "Six weeks is a long trial, plus the case was fairly complex. I would not be surprised if [Oracle's costs were] more than $10 million once you include the enormous amount of prep work."

Patent cases are often appealed to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, so "it is not wise to think of this as a 'final' statement on the patent issues (or, indeed, the copyright issues)," Wagner said. "It's better thought of as major development, but not the final word."

"It's unclear what Oracle's strategy was (or is), but potentially they could have sought fees or damages from anyone selling Android phones," Wagner said. "I'm hesitant to say it will have much effect. Smartphones have so many components—software and hardware—so the fact that these patents weren't found to be infringed has very little to do, I think, with the other litigation that's going on."