U. S. District Judge Judge William Alsup on Thursday ruled in favor of Google, dismissing Oracle's claim that the Internet search giant infringed on its Java technology copyrights to develop Android OS.

Oracle accused Google of violating the copyrights of a total of 37 APIs in the Java program system, which Oracle acquired with its purchase of Sun Microsystems in 2010.

But, the 67-year-old Judge that federal copyright law does not apply to Google's use of key elements of Oracle's Java software. The ruling dealt a hard blow to Oracle and set a possible precedent for more cases in future.

The Judge ruled, "This order does not hold that Java API packages are free for all to use without license. Rather, it holds on the specific facts of this case, the particular elements replicated by Google were free for all to use under the Copyright Act."

The lawsuit, which was once touted as a $6 billion case, is now expected to finish up with a hefty bill for Oracle.

The latest ruling came just around a week after a trial in which jurors cleared Google of patent and copyright infringement charges leveled by Oracle.

Oracle promptly pledged to appeal against the ruling.