Google values the confidentiality of its business deals and is now renewing its request for the court to sanction Oracle's lawyer who revealed its $1 billion deal with Apple.
The epic legal battle between Google and Oracle revealed some interesting tidbits of information, including details about Google's secret deal with Apple. In January, Oracle attorney Annette Hurst disclosed the fact that Google paid Apple $1 billion in 2014 to have its search bar on iPhones, serving as the default search engine on the iOS smartphones.
The legal hustle between Oracle and Google was over the former's copyright claims to Java APIs used in Android. Google won the case, but it's still looking to get Hurst sanctioned, arguing that its confidential arrangement with Apple should not have been made public.
In its renewed court request, documented by Fortune's Jeff Roberts, Google claims that both its company and Apple were "harmed by Oracle's counsel's disclosure regarding the terms of a significant and confidential commercial agreement."
Google submitted confidential information in the Oracle case under a protective order, which it feels was violated. That order was supposed to "assure that sensitive, highly confidential information produced in discovery remains confidential and does not end up as headline news."
That was clearly not the case, as the media buzzed worldwide for a good while after the information came to light. Google's confidential affairs became public knowledge, and countless reports put its search deal with Apple under a microscope, which Google obviously wanted to avoid.
Google may not get too much out of this sanction, as it would most likely not affect Oracle in any meaningful way, but the renewed request does go to show Google's efforts to keep its search business deals tightly under wraps and away from prying eyes.
The company is requesting a finding of civil contempt and sanctions against Hurst and Oracle. Google further notes that those sanctions should also cover an award of the fees Google paid its attorneys.
It remains to be seen what will come of Google's request to sanction Hurst for violating court rules on confidentiality, but the matter seems far from over. As is the Oracle versus Google battle, since Oracle plans to appeal the ruling from May that sided with Google in the Java API case.
As always, we'll make sure to keep you up to date as soon as more information comes to light, so stay tuned.
