No. 18-956
`
`In the
`Supreme Court of the United States
`
`GooGle llC,
`
`v.
`oraCle ameriCa, iNC.
`
`Petitioner,
`
`Respondent.
`
`On Writ Of CertiOrari tO the United StateS
`COUrt Of appealS fOr the federal CirCUit
`
`Brief for international Business
`Machines corp. and red hat, inc. as
`Amici curiAe supporting petitioner
`
`mIchelle h. bRoWDy
`maRK J. RInGes
`Ibm coRPoRatIon
`one New orchard road
`armonk, NY 10504
`
`steven m. PuRDy
`Ibm coRPoRatIon
`P.o. Box 218
`1101 Kitchawan road
`Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
`
`James W. Dabney
`Counsel of Record
`RIchaRD m. Koehl
`James R. KlaIbeR
`stefanIe m. GaRIbyan
`huGhes hubbaRD & ReeD llP
`one Battery Park Plaza
`New York, NY 10004
`(212) 837-6000
`james.dabney@hugheshubbard.com
`
`thomas I. savaGe
`JeffRey R. Kaufman
`maRK f. bohannon
`ReD hat, Inc.
`100 east Davie Street
`raleigh, NC 27601
`Attorneys for Amici Curiae International
`Business Machines Corp. and Red Hat, Inc.
`
`293547
`
`

`

`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`Page
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................ ii
`INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ........................ 1
`SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT .................. 11
`ARGUMENT ..................................................... 13
`I.
`THE DECISION BELOW IS CONTRARY
`TO LONGSTANDING INDUSTRY
`PRACTICE AND HARMFUL TO
`INNOVATION. ....................................... 13
`II. 17 U.S.C. § 102(b) EXCLUDES
`SOFTWARE INTERFACES FROM
`COPYRIGHT PROTECTION. ............... 18
`III. THE DECISION BELOW FAILED TO
`APPLY THIS COURT’S PRECEDENT
`EXCLUDING CATEGORIES OF
`SUBJECT MATTER FROM
`COPYRIGHT PROTECTION, AS
`CODIFIED IN 17 U.S.C. § 102(b). ......... 25
`CONCLUSION .................................................. 29
`APPENDIX A — KEY FOR MAPS OF
`THE CITY OF NEW YORK BY
`WILLIAM PERRIS, CIVIL
`ENGINEER AND SURVEYOR,
`THIRD EDITION 1857 ..................................... 1a
`
`APPENDIX B — MAPS OF THE CITY
`OF NEW YORK BY WILLIAM PERRIS,
`CIVIL ENGINEER AND SURVEYOR,
`THIRD EDITION 1857 ..................................... 2a
`
`i
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
`Page(s)
`
`Cases
`
`Aldrich v. Remington Rand, Inc.,
`52 F. Supp. 732 (N.D. Tex. 1942) ........................ 26
`Baker v. Selden,
`101 U.S. 99 (1880) .............................. 25, 26, 27, 28
`Banks v. Manchester,
`128 U.S. 244 (1888) .............................................. 25
`Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc.,
`489 U.S. 141 (1989) .............................................. 28
`Brief English Sys., Inc. v. Owen,
`48 F.2d 555 (2d Cir. 1931) ................................... 26
`Brown Instrument Co. v. Warner,
`161 F.2d 910 (D.C. Cir. 1947) .............................. 23
`
`Cal. Comput. Prods., Inc. v. Int’l Bus. Machs.
`Corp.,
`613 F.2d 727 (9th Cir. 1979) ................................ 14
`
`Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film
`Corp.,
`539 U.S. 23 (2003) .......................................... 27, 28
`Deepsouth Packing Co. v. Laitram Corp.,
`406 U.S. 518 (1972) ................................................ 2
`Feist Publ’ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co.,
`499 U.S. 340 (1991) ........................................ 18, 29
`
`ii
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Cases
`
`Griggs v. Perrin,
`49 F. 15 (C.C.N.D.N.Y. 1892) .............................. 26
`Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland Int’l, Inc.,
`49 F.3d 807 (1st Cir. 1995) (Boudin, J.,
`concurring), aff’d by an equally divided court,
`516 U.S. 233 (1996) .............................................. 18
`Mazer v. Stein,
`347 U.S. 201 (1954) .............................................. 29
`Neder v. United States,
`527 US. 1 (1999) ................................................... 26
`Oracle Am., Inc. v. Google, Inc.,
`750 F.3d 1339 (Fed. Cir. 2014) .......... 12, 16, 22, 29
`Parker v. Flook,
`437 U.S. 584 (1978) ................................................ 2
`Perris v. Hexamer,
`99 U.S. 674 (1879) ........................................ passim
`Quanta Comput., Inc. v. LG Elecs., Inc.,
`553 U.S. 617 (2008) .............................................. 28
`Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co.,
`376 U.S. 225 (1964) .............................................. 28
`Sekhar v. United States,
`570 U.S. 729 (2013) .............................................. 26
`
`iii
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Cases
`
`Taylor Instrument Cos. v. Fawley-Brost Co.,
`139 F.2d 98 (7th Cir. 1943) .................................. 23
`United Carbon Co. v. Binney & Smith Co.,
`317 U.S. 228 (1942) .............................................. 24
`
`Statutes and Rules
`17 U.S.C. § 102(a) ...................................................... 30
`17 U.S.C. § 102(b) .............................................. passim
`17 U.S.C. § 107 .......................................................... 24
`17 U.S.C. § 107(4) ...................................................... 24
`17 U.S.C. § 109(b) ...................................................... 28
`35 U.S.C. § 100 (1976) ............................................... 27
`Act of Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 320, 35 Stat. 1075 ............... 25
`Pub. L. No. 94-553, 90 Stat. 2541 ............................. 16
`
`
`
`
`
`iv
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Secondary Sources
`
`Al Gillen & Mary Johnston Turner, IDC, White
`Paper: Enterprise-Grade Open Source: An
`Imperative for Modern IT (2016),
`https://red.ht/2tQuzAR ........................................ 17
`Andy Patrizio, What is API Management?,
`Datamation (June 4, 2019),
`https://www.datamation.com/applications/wh
`at-is-api-management.html ......................... 15, 16
`Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner,
`Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal
`Texts (2012) .......................................................... 26
`API Specs, IBM Cloud,
`https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/infrastructure/cis?t
`opic=cis-api-specs (last updated Mar. 14,
`2019) ....................................................................... 6
`Bill Musgrave, A Sequel for Data Bases,
`Datamation, March 1981 ....................................... 6
`Brief Amicus Curiae of Am. Comm. for
`Interoperable Sys., Apple Computer, Inc. v.
`Microsoft Corp., 35 F.3d 1435 (9th Cir. 1994)
`(No. 93-16867), https://www.ccianet.org/wp-
`content/uploads/2014/10/Apple-Computer-
`Inc.-v.-Microsoft-Corporation-and-Hewlett-
`Packard-Company.pdf ......................................... 19
`
`v
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Secondary Sources
`
`Computer History Museum, Oral History of
`Donald Chamberlin (2009),
`https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/
`text/Oral_History/Chamberlin_Don/10270211
`1.05.01.acc.pdf ....................................................... 6
`D.D. Chamberlin et al., SEQUEL 2: A Unified
`Approach to Data Definition, Manipulation,
`and Control, 20 IBM J. Res. & Dev. 560
`(1976) ...................................................................... 5
`Damon C. Andrews & John M. Newman,
`Personal Jurisdiction and Choice of Law in
`the Cloud, 73 Md. L. Rev. 313 (2013) .................. 11
`
`Database SQL Language Reference: History of
`SQL, ORACLE® Help Center,
`https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E11882_01/server.1
`12/e41084/intro001.htm#SQLRF50932 ................ 5
`Ecosystem Catalog, Red Hat,
`https://catalog.redhat.com ................................... 8
`
`FORTRAN: The Pioneering Programming
`Language, IBM,
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/e
`n/icons/fortran/ .................................................... 13
`Frank Della Rosa et al., IDC, IDC FutureScape:
`Worldwide Cloud 2020 Predictions (2019) ........... 5
`
`vi
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Secondary Sources
`
`Greg Satell, How Red Hat Helped Make Open
`Source a Global Phenomenon, Inc. (Jan. 6,
`2019), https://www.inc.com/greg-satell/how-
`red-hat-scaled-from-an-unlikely-startup-to-a-
`major-global-enterprise.html ................................ 8
`IBM Corp., Dictionary of IBM & Computing
`Terminology,
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/documents/
`pdf/glossary.pdf .................................. 2, 14, 17, 18
`
`IBM Multicloud Manager: 2019 Edison Award
`Gold Winner, Edison Awards,
`https://edisonawards.com/ibm-mcm.php .............. 4
`IBM’s 100 Icons of Progress, IBM,
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/e
`n/icons .................................................................... 3
`Inco, Inc., Oracle vs. IDM: Comparative Analysis
`(1981),
`https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a10852
`6.pdf ..................................................................... 17
`Integrate IBM Watson APIs in Your Apps, IBM
`Watson Studio,
`https://dataplatform.cloud.ibm.com/docs/conte
`nt/wsj/getting-started/wdp-apis.html (last
`updated Jan. 7, 2020) .......................................... 6
`
`vii
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Secondary Sources
`
`James Gosling et al., The JavaTM Language
`Specification (3d ed. 2005)
`https://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se6/jls3
`.pdf ....................................................................... 19
`Joab Jackson, OASIS: MQTT to Be the Protocol
`for the Internet of Things, PCWorld (Apr. 26,
`2013, 11:50 AM),
`https://www.pcworld.com/article/2036500/oasi
`s-mqtt-to-be-the-protocol-for-the-internet-of-
`things.html . ......................................................... 11
`Joe Weinman, Cloudonomics: The Business
`Value of Cloud Computing (2012) ....................... 11
`John Markoff, Computer Wins on ‘Jeopardy!’:
`Trivial, It’s Not, N.Y. Times (Feb. 16, 2011),
`https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/sci-
`ence/17jeopardy-watson.html ............................... 4
`Kevin Werbach, The Network Utility, 60 Duke
`L.J. 1761 (2011) .................................................... 11
`Linux: The Era of Open Innovation, IBM,
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/e
`n/icons/linux/ ........................................................ 16
`
`viii
`
`

`

`
`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Secondary Sources
`
`Maureen Fleming, IDC, Worldwide Integration
`and API Management Software Market
`Shares, 2018: Portable Cloud Integration Is a
`Fastest-Growing Segment (2019),
`http://idcdocserv.com/US44786119e_IBM .......... 15
`
`New Cloud Native Computing Foundation to
`Drive Alignment Among Container
`Technologies, Cloud Native Computing
`Foundation (June 21, 2015),
`https://www.cncf.io/announcement/2015/06/21
`/new-cloud-native-computing-foundation-to-
`drive-alignment-among-container-
`technologies/ ........................................................ 11
`OpenJDK FAQ, OpenJDK (Dec. 18, 2010),
`https://openjdk.java.net/faq/ ................................. 9
`
`Our Company: Building a Better Foundation for
`the Future of IT, Red Hat,
`https://www.redhat.com/en/about/company ........ 7
`Pamela Samuelson, Why Copyright Law
`Excludes Systems and Processes From the
`Scope of Its Protection, 85 Tex. L. Rev. 1921
`(2007) .................................................................... 27
`
`
`
`
`
`ix
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Secondary Sources
`
`Paul Scheuer, Dell EMC and IBM Renew
`Licensing Agreements Through 2021.
`Cooperative Support Agreement Continues in
`Perpetuity, Dell EMC: Everything Mainframe
`at EMC (Oct. 30, 2018, 1:57:46 PM),
`https://community.emc.com/community/conne
`ct/everything-mainframe/blog/2018/10/30/dell-
`emc-and-ibm-renew-licensing-agreements-
`through-2021-cooperative-support-agreement-
`continues-in-perpetuity ........................................ 6
`The PC: Personal Computing Comes of Age, IBM,
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/e
`n/icons/personalcomputer/ ................................... 6
`Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat,
`https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux
`-platforms/enterprise-linux ................................. 8
`Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform,
`Red Hat,
`https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/jboss-
`middleware/application-platform ......................... 9
`Red Hat Satellite, Red Hat,
`https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/mana
`gement/satellite .................................................. 10
`Red Hat Virtualization, Red Hat,
`https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/virtu
`alization/enterprise-virtualization .................... 10
`x
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Secondary Sources
`
`Relational Database, IBM,
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/e
`n/icons/reldb/ ...................................................... 14
`Sara Castellanos, IBM’s Quantum-Computing
`Service Tops 100 Customers, Wall St. J. (Jan.
`8, 2020), https://www.wsj.com/articles/ibms-
`quantum-computing-service-tops-100-custom-
`ers-11578481200 .................................................... 5
`Shigeru Takahashi, The Rise and Fall of Plug-
`Compatible Mainframes, IEEE Annals Hist.
`Computing, Jan.-March 2005 .............................. 14
`Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, RHEL 8 Released,
`ZDNet (May 7, 2019, 6:00 PM),
`https://zd.net/37WLssj .......................................... 9
`Sun Microsystems, Inc., Java 2 Standard
`Edition, Version 5.0 (2004) .................................. 12
`
`System 360: From Computers to Computer
`Systems, IBM
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/e
`n/icons/system360/ ............................................. 14
`U.S. Copyright Office, Software-Enabled
`Consumer Products (2016),
`https://www.copyright.gov/policy/software/soft
`ware-full-report.pdf ............................................... 2
`
`xi
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`Cont’d
`
`Page(s)
`
`Secondary Sources
`
`Understanding Middleware, Red Hat,
`https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/middleware ..... 9
`Webster’s Third New Int’l Dictionary (1961) ............ 26
`William Perris, Maps of the City of New York
`(1857), https://digitalcollec-
`tions.nypl.org/items/06fd4630-c603-012f-17f8-
`58d385a7bc34 ...................................................... 20
`Zvi S. Rosen, How Perris v. Hexamer Was Lost in
`the Shadow of Baker v. Selden, 68 Syracuse
`L. Rev. 231 (2018) ................................................ 22
`
`
`
`xii
`
`

`

`
`
`INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE
`Computer interfaces are not copyrightable. That
`simple, yet powerful principle has been a cornerstone
`of technological and economic growth for over sixty
`years.1 When published (as has been common indus-
`try practice for over three decades) or lawfully reverse
`engineered,2 they have spurred innovation through
`competition, increased productivity and economic effi-
`ciency, and connected the world in a way that has ben-
`efited commercial enterprises and consumers alike.
`Not once, until this case, has a Court of Appeals
`held that software interfaces are protected by copy-
`right separate and apart from the code embodying the
`implementation of those interfaces. This is not be-
`cause this principle is fringe; it is because it has al-
`ways been accepted—based on legal precedent dating
`back 140 years. Congress has been aware of not just
`the existence, but the fundamental utility of this tru-
`ism within the computing industry since the 1950s
`and not once has it undertaken any effort to modify
`the settled body of law and industry expectations, lest
`it derail the vast and innovative economy that has
`
`1 No counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or in part,
`and no such counsel or party made a monetary contribution in-
`tended to fund the preparation or submission of this brief. No
`person other than the amici curiae or their counsel made a mon-
`etary contribution to its preparation or submission. The parties
`have consented to the filing of this brief.
`2 When kept as a trade secret, interfaces have been immensely
`valuable to their creators, both in maintaining exclusive closed
`systems and in licensing to others to develop interoperable prod-
`ucts—often leading to vigorous debates in legislatures, courts,
`and the public throughout the modern computing era.
`
`1
`
`

`

`
`come to rely upon them.3 Absent a clear and certain
`signal from Congress to modify this crucial balance
`and the positive effect it has had on every application
`from aviation to medicine, this Court should not act to
`disrupt settled law.4
`International Business Machines Corp. (“IBM”)
`and Red Hat, Inc. (“Red Hat”) are leading developers
`of software and information technology systems that,
`by means of interfaces,5 provide for interoperation of
`diverse programs and programmable devices. The de-
`cision below threatens to undermine and adversely
`impact a core aspect of IBM’s and Red Hat’s business,
`as well as that of their clients.
`
`3 Cf. U.S. Copyright Office, Software-Enabled Consumer Prods.
`52 (2016), https://www.copyright.gov/policy/software/software-
`full-report.pdf (“The Copyright Office recognizes the importance
`of preserving the ability to develop products and services that
`can interoperate with software-enabled consumer products, and
`the goal of preserving competition in the marketplace.”).
`4 Cf. Parker v. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 596 (1978) (“We would require
`a clear and certain signal from Congress before approving the
`position of a litigant who, as respondent here, argues that the
`beachhead of privilege is wider, and the area of public use nar-
`rower, than courts had previously thought.”) (quoting Deepsouth
`Packing Co. v. Laitram Corp., 406 U.S. 518, 531 (1972)).
`5 See IBM Corp., Dictionary of IBM & Computing Terminology
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/documents/pdf/glos-
`44,
`sary.pdf (last visited Jan. 13, 2020) (the “IBM Glossary”) (“inter-
`face 1. n. A shared boundary between two functional units, de-
`fined by functional characteristics, signal characteristics, or
`other characteristics, as appropriate. The concept includes the
`specification of the connection of two devices having different
`functions. 2. n. Hardware, software, or both, that links systems,
`programs, or devices.”). The IBM Glossary defines a number of
`technical terms used in briefs in this case.
`
`2
`
`

`

`
`
`Given that IBM and Red Hat have collectively de-
`veloped tens of thousands of software programs com-
`prising hundreds of millions of lines of code, combined
`with the companies’ service of clients across all indus-
`tries in over 170 countries worldwide, amici are par-
`ticularly well-positioned to address whether software
`interfaces are copyrightable.
`IBM brings a balanced view to the issue in this
`case. As its very name suggests, IBM’s business is
`truly international. IBM licenses and makes availa-
`ble software programs throughout the world, relying
`upon underlying copyrights to protect such software
`programs from unauthorized use. As one of the most
`successful licensors of software technology in the
`world, IBM relies on its ability to enforce its copy-
`rights in software in order to protect its business in-
`terests. IBM continues to invest billions of dollars an-
`nually in software technology in reliance on a mature,
`fair, and balanced U.S. copyright system.
`At the forefront of business innovation for more
`than 100 years,6 IBM has enabled countless technical
`achievements from the Apollo missions to the first
`publicly accessible quantum computers in the cloud.
`
`
`IBM,
`Progress,
`6
`of
`See
`IBM’s
`100
`Icons
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons (last vis-
`ited Jan. 13, 2020) (listing examples). IBM’s sustained commit-
`ment to research and innovation has resulted in six Nobel laure-
`ates, five National Medal of Science recipients, thirteen winners
`of the National Medal of Technology, six winners of the Turing
`Award, and twenty-seven consecutive years of receiving the most
`patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
`
`3
`
`

`

`
`Just since this case began, IBM has accelerated inno-
`vation in every facet of computing technology. Not
`long after Respondent brought this suit over Java in-
`terface specifications developed in the 1990s, IBM de-
`ployed an artificial intelligence (“AI”) system that
`beat the reigning all-time human champion on Jeop-
`ardy!,7 signaling the emergence of AI as a commer-
`cially viable technology that is now embedded in
`nearly every form of computing. IBM also responded
`to industry demand for workload portability and cli-
`ent choice by championing the hybrid cloud computing
`model, enabling interoperability across the ever-grow-
`ing and competitive cloud computing landscape.8 To
`this end, IBM has accelerated development of award-
`winning products9 that drive efficiency, competition,
`and innovation that enterprises can leverage in an
`ever-changing IT landscape.10
`
`
`7 John Markoff, Computer Wins on ‘Jeopardy!’: Trivial, It’s Not,
`https://www.ny-
`N.Y.
`Times
`(Feb.
`16,
`2011),
`
`times.com/2011/02/17/science/17jeopardy-watson.html.
`8 IBM’s 2019 acquisition of Red Hat, discussed infra, was the cul-
`mination of IBM’s twenty-year commitment to open source soft-
`ware development. This has included everything from multi-bil-
`lion dollar investments toward bringing Linux to enterprise
`quality to the development of open source technology that em-
`powers clients to choose how their data is processed, stored and
`secured.
`9 See, e.g., IBM Multicloud Manager: 2019 Edison Award Gold
`Winner, Edison Awards, https://edisonawards.com/ibm-mcm.php
`(last visited Jan. 13, 2020).
`10 Industry analysts predict that, “By 2021, over 90% of enter-
`prises worldwide will rely on a mix of on-premises/dedicated pri-
`vate clouds, several public clouds, and legacy platforms to meet
`
`4
`
`

`

`
`
`IBM is the leader in providing industry, academia,
`and government researchers with direct access to in-
`dustry-leading quantum computing platforms via the
`cloud.11 The public, from the most sophisticated data
`scientists to high school students just learning how to
`code, access these innovations in the same way all
`modern systems are accessed—via software inter-
`faces.
`This is not a recent development. Most, if not all,
`technologies discussed in the parties’ briefs, by the
`amici, and at issue in prior cases involving computing
`interfaces, were enabled by IBM public disclosures,
`including specifications of interfaces to mainframe
`computers (giving birth to the independent software
`developer and hardware peripheral industries), speci-
`fications of the first relational database (making the
`use of extraordinarily large volumes of data accessible
`to average businesses),12 and the IBM PC BIOS
`
`their infrastructure needs.” Frank Della Rosa et al., IDC, IDC
`FutureScape: Worldwide Cloud 2020 Predictions 2 (2019).
`11 Sara Castellanos, IBM’s Quantum-Computing Service Tops
`Customers, Wall
`St.
`J.
`(Jan.
`8,
`2020),
`100
`https://www.wsj.com/articles/ibms-quantum-computing-service-
`tops-100-customers-11578481200.
`12 See D.D. Chamberlin et al., SEQUEL 2: A Unified Approach to
`Data Definition, Manipulation, and Control, 20 IBM J. Res. &
`Dev. 560 (1976). “In 1979, Relational Software, Inc. (now Oracle)
`introduced the first commercially available implementation of
`SQL. Today, SQL is accepted as the standard RDBMS lan-
`guage.” Database SQL Language Reference: History of SQL, OR-
`Help
`Center,
`https://docs.ora-
`ACLE®
`cle.com/cd/E11882_01/server.112/e41084/in-
`tro001.htm#SQLRF50932. Considering it to be in the public do-
`main, and because it was “powerful, uniform, and relatively easy
`
`5
`
`

`

`
`source code (launching the “IBM compatible” revolu-
`tion).13 Enabling interoperability with third-party
`computing and network devices, publishing interface
`specifications to guide this necessary integration ef-
`fort, and the technical achievements enabled by these
`efforts are not new to IBM or to the advancement of
`computing—they are critical to it.
`While an ever-increasing number of IBM software
`interfaces, including for AI14 and cloud15 applications,
`are published, IBM maintains others as proprietary
`assets and protects them as trade secrets, sometimes
`making them available for licensing,16 but then only
`
`
`to grasp, [Oracle founder] Ellison and company chose to imple-
`ment versions for a number of machines, from minis up,” relying
`on the presumption that “IBM will educate people to SQL.” Bill
`Musgrave, A Sequel for Data Bases, Datamation, March 1981, at
`69. Oracle’s goal was to create an implementation that was con-
`sistent with IBM’s “so that there would be a common interface
`with compatible error codes and everything else.” Computer His-
`tory Museum, Oral History of Donald Chamberlin 26 (2009),
`https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_His-
`tory/Chamberlin_Don/102702111.05.01.acc.pdf.
`13 See The PC: Personal Computing Comes of Age, IBM,
`https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/personal-
`computer/ (last visited Jan. 13, 2020).
`14 See Integrate IBM Watson APIs in Your Apps, IBM Watson
`Studio, https://dataplatform.cloud.ibm.com/docs/content/wsj/get-
`ting-started/wdp-apis.html (last updated Jan. 7, 2020).
`15 See API Specs, IBM Cloud, https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/infra-
`structure/cis?topic=cis-api-specs (last updated Mar. 14, 2019).
`16 See, e.g., Paul Scheuer, Dell EMC and IBM Renew Licensing
`Agreements Through 2021. Cooperative Support Agreement Con-
`tinues in Perpetuity, Dell EMC: Everything Mainframe at EMC
`
`6
`
`

`

`
`on a confidential basis. Once its interfaces are pub-
`lished, however, IBM has never treated them, and
`does not now treat them, as copyrightable subject
`matter. This fundamental principle on which IBM
`has based its business has not changed in view of any
`action by Congress, or this Court, in the last sixty
`years.
`Consistent with IBM’s experience, businesses in
`all industries, clients and competitors alike, have
`come to rely on unrestricted access to software inter-
`faces in order to stitch together complex systems from
`multiple vendors, improve upon existing products to
`drive competition and innovation, and afford the busi-
`nesses that own the data on these systems the oppor-
`tunity to make economically efficient decisions, in-
`cluding migrating to the cloud and orchestrating
`workloads amongst vigorously competing cloud pro-
`viders.
`Red Hat is the world’s largest developer of enter-
`prise open source software solutions.17 Red Hat’s cus-
`tomers include more than ninety percent of the For-
`tune 500.18 Using a community-powered approach to
`
`
`(Oct. 30, 2018, 1:57:46 PM), https://community.emc.com/commu-
`nity/connect/everything-mainframe/blog/2018/10/30/dell-emc-
`and-ibm-renew-licensing-agreements-through-2021-coopera-
`tive-support-agreement-continues-in-perpetuity.
`17 See Our Company: Building a Better Foundation for the Future
`of IT, Red Hat, https://www.redhat.com/en/about/company (last
`visited Jan. 13, 2020).
`18 Id.
`
`7
`
`

`

`
`software development,19 Red Hat has developed relia-
`ble, high-performing, enterprise-quality cloud, mid-
`dleware, storage, and virtualization technologies in-
`cluding Red Hat Enterprise Linux (“RHEL”),20 an
`open source operating system that Red Hat has
`adapted and certified to interoperate with thousands
`of diverse hardware, software, and cloud products and
`services. 21
`Red Hat, as a continuous innovator in the open
`source software ecosystem, with significant experi-
`ence and product offerings in numerous and diverse
`software technologies, has a stake in the consistent
`and correct determination of the scope of copyright
`protection that applies to interfaces of computer pro-
`grams, including the Java platform interface at stake
`in this case. Open source software development relies
`on the availability of and unencumbered access to
`
`
`19 “What few people realized back in the 90s was that open source
`software doesn’t mean the end of proprietary technologies. Ra-
`ther, it provides a stable environment upon which proprietary
`technologies can be built. That’s the opportunity that Red Hat
`seized more than two decades ago, with a new era of computing
`dawning, that is what lays before it today.” Greg Satell, How
`Red Hat Helped Make Open Source a Global Phenomenon, Inc.
`(Jan. 6, 2019), https://www.inc.com/greg-satell/how-red-hat-
`scaled-from-an-unlikely-startup-to-a-major-global-enter-
`prise.html.
`Red Hat,
`Linux,
`20
`Enterprise
`See Red Hat
`https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enter-
`prise-linux (last visited Jan. 13, 2020).
`21 See Ecosystem Catalog, Red Hat, https://catalog.redhat.com
`(last visited Jan. 13, 2020).
`
`8
`
`

`

`
`software interfaces, including products that are com-
`patible with or interoperate with other computer
`products, platforms, and services.
` Red Hat has a long and extensive history of devel-
`oping software written in Java as well as implemen-
`tations of the Java programming language. Red Hat’s
`significant involvement with Java development over
`the last twenty years has included extensive contribu-
`tions to OpenJDK,22 an open source implementation
`of the Java platform sponsored by Respondent, and
`the development of JBoss,23 a suite of Java-based mid-
`dleware solutions for running enterprise applications.
`Red Hat continues to contribute to various open
`source Java community software development pro-
`jects as well as packaging and supporting many Java
`technologies within Red Hat’s flagship RHEL prod-
`uct,24 the world’s leading enterprise Linux operating
`system platform, as well as other products, including
`
`
`22 See OpenJDK FAQ, OpenJDK (Dec. 18, 2010), https://open-
`jdk.java.net/faq/.
`Hat,
`Red
`23
`Understanding Middleware,
`See
`https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/middleware (last visited Jan.
`13, 2020); Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform, Red
`https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/jboss-middle-
`Hat,
`ware/application-platform (last visited Jan. 13, 2020).
`24 “RHEL is far more than just a Linux distribution. It’s the foun-
`dation for everything and all things business IT in 2019. AI, In-
`ternet of Things (IoT), containers, DevOps -- you name it, it runs
`on Linux. And, quite often that Linux is Red Hat’s Linux.” Ste-
`ven J. Vaughan-Nichols, RHEL 8 Released, ZDNet (May 7, 2019,
`6:00 PM), https://zd.net/37WLssj.
`
`9
`
`

`

`
`Red Hat Virtualization,25 an enterprise-grade server
`and desktop virtualization platform built on RHEL,
`and Red Hat Satellite,26 a management solution for
`configuring systems across physical, virtual, and
`cloud environments.
`Red Hat, acquired by IBM last year, continues to
`operate as a distinct unit, preserving the independ-
`ence and neutrality of Red Hat’s open source develop-
`ment heritage and commitment, current product port-
`folio and go-to-market strategy, and unique develop-
`ment culture.
`As leading developers of software, IBM and Red
`Hat are vitally interested in the legal status of soft-
`ware interfaces, whose use is fundamental27 to inno-
`vation by establishing compatibility between hard-
`ware and software components in computer systems
`that facilitate innovation and drive economic growth.
`
`
`Hat,
`Red
`25
`Virtualization,
`See
`Red
`Hat
`https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/virtualization/enter-
`prise-virtualization (last visited Jan. 13, 2020).
`Hat,
`Red
`26
`Satellite,
`See
`Red
`Hat
`https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/management/satellite
`(last visited Jan. 13, 2020).
`27 Industry analysts predict that, “By 2022, 90% of new digital
`services will be built as composite applications using public and
`internal API-delivered services; half of those will leverage artifi-
`cial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).” Della Rosa et
`al., supra note 10, at 2.
`
`10
`
`

`

`
`
`SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT
`Software interfaces are crucial to every critical
`technology that interacts with the cloud28 to expand
`and enrich our experience with connected devices,29
`from self-driving cars to personal fitness apps. By al-
`lowing access to content from anywhere in the world
`with an Internet connection, these technologies pro-
`vide users with an unprecedented degree of mobility;
`their benefits—including scalability, workload migra-
`tion, resiliency, and cost savings—are plentiful for
`both consumers and businesses alike.30 In order to ad-
`dress myriad challenges, from cybersecurity threats
`to anticompetitive vendor lock-in, technology that per-
`mits data owners to choose when and where to run