Judge won’t move up hearing on Java injunction as Sun asked

June 4, 1998 — A hearing on Sun Microsystems’s motion to require Microsoft to make Java in Windows 98 compatible with Sun’s Java implementation, or ship Sun’s Java runtime environment with it, will be held July 31 and not sooner as Sun had wanted.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte in San Jose, CA, rejected Sun’s request to hold the hearing before the scheduled date, according to Sun’s spokesperson Lisa Poulson. Sun had wanted to expedite the hearing because Windows 98 is scheduled to be offered in retail stores starting June 25 or even earlier.

“We expected this because the judge has a busy docket,” said Poulson. “It’s literally just about calendars.”

Sun filed motions in May asking the judge to prohibit Microsoft from shipping Windows 98 if its Java content is not compatible with Sun’s implementation.

Sun originally sued Microsoft in October 1997, claiming that Microsoft violated its licensing agreement with Sun by making changes to the core Java code. The changes make it incompatible with Sun’s implementation. Later that month, Microsoft countersued, alleging breach of contract.

Then, in November, Sun filed a motion asking the court to bar Microsoft from using Sun’s Java Compatible Logo on Internet Explorer 4.0, claiming that Microsoft’s Java implementation failed to pass Sun’s compatibility tests.

In March, Whyte issued a preliminary injunction that prevents Microsoft from using Sun’s Java Compatible logo to promote and distribute Internet Explorer 4.0, and related products that contain incompatible implementations of Java.