Judge in Oracle, Google case may order mediation

As the trial date nears in Oracle's dispute with Google over Android, the judge overseeing the case is proposing a last-ditch mediation in front of a magistrate judge.

The companies are battling over the way Android handles Java applications. Oracle accuses Google of infringing on its Java patents and copyrights in Dalvik, the virtual machine in Android that runs Java applications.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com