That was quick. One day after Oracle asked for the right to assert a third patent against Google in the ongoing Android/Java intellectual property trial, Judge William Alsup has ordered that it is too late to introduce the patent into the case.

In order to get the trial moving, Oracle had agreed to drop infringement claims for Java patents rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office. But after the trial started, the USPTO reversed its rejection of one of the Oracle patents. Oracle argued that since the trial is still covering copyright issues and hasn’t gotten to patents yet, that it shouldn’t be too late to get this third patent in front of the jury.

Wrong, Alsup wrote in an order this afternoon. Oracle had withdrawn the patent on the condition that it remain rejected at the start of the trial. Even though the patent portion of the trial hasn’t begun yet, that conditional withdrawal became final as soon as the trial began, he wrote.

"The reversal came a few days too late, for the trial had already started and the dismissals with prejudice had already become effective," Alsup wrote. "Oracle’s argument that the patent ‘trial’ has not yet started is wrong. [This] was and is one trial with three phases. The trial started on April 16. This is not only the plain meaning of the term but any other interpretation would inject great prejudice given that the parties have relied on the issues to be tried and that reliance should not be turned on its head in mid-trial. Oracle will be required to stand by its word and live with the dismissal with prejudice."

There’s still plenty to be decided, however. For Google’s alleged violations of copyrights and two patents, Oracle is looking for tens of millions of dollars in damages, plus a percentage of future Android revenue.