Patent Commentator Florian Mueller Admits Oracle Consultancy

The author of the widely-cited FOSS Patents blog has revealed that he has “very recently” taken on Oracle as a consulting client.

Florian Mueller, whose writings typically discuss patent litigation between technology companies around the world, made the revelation in a post rounding up the first three days of the Oracle versus Google trial in San Francisco.

Oracle coverage

“I have been following Oracle v. Google since the filing of the lawsuit in August 2010 and have read pretty much every line of each court filing in this litigation,” Mueller wrote on Thursday. “My long-standing views on this matter are well-documented. As an independent analyst and blogger, I will express only my own opinions, which cannot be attributed to any one of my diversity of clients. I often say things none of them would agree with.

“That said, as a believer in transparency I would like to inform you that Oracle has very recently become a consulting client of mine. We intend to work together for the long haul on mostly competition-related topics including, for one example, FRAND licensing terms.”

Mueller went on to add that his work with Oracle was meant to begin after the trial was over, but due to delays, his “new relationship” has begun almost at the start of court proceedings. Stating that he has also worked with Microsoft among other clients, Mueller reiterated his commitment to providing accurate and reliable analysis.

Groklaw reaction

News of Florian Mueller’s ties with Oracle provoked a strong reaction from Pamela Jones, a self-proclaimed paralegal and writer of the influential Groklaw blog ,who herself has been accused of being a front for anti-SCO parties such as IBM. She raises that concern that, with Oracle as a client, Mueller will be privy to certain details of the suing company’s case which could affect his impartiality.

“He hasn’t been covering the [Oracle v Google] trial until now, he writes, and in an amazing coincidence of timing, right after signing on with Oracle, he will begin,” wrote Jones. “I would like to ask, what do you call that coverage? Do you call that journalism, analysis, or paid propaganda?

“I’ll tell you that his first article about the trial says that Google is doomed… This is the ‘independent’ analyst who stressed that Oracle was going for $6 billion in damages, if I recall correctly. And I usually do. Did you notice that didn’t turn out to be the case in the end? Analysts, as I told you jokingly years ago when analysts were predicting SCO Group would win, don’t need to be accurate. That’s a goal for journalists. There’s a difference.”

Jones ends her post by saying she will be keenly observing Mueller’s coverage of the trial to see if his claim that he will not have access confidential information will be upheld.

In an email to TechWeekEurope, Florian Mueller clarified that the positions he has taken up on a variety of legal cases are entirely his own and have been consistent for a long time.

“I can’t just decide not to blog about or comment on lawsuits involving major industry players who are interested in getting advice from me on a diversity of issues.”

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