Oracle, Google Execs to Head to Mediation

Google and Oracle will send top executives to mediation in front of a magistrate judge, in a last-ditch attempt to settle their differences over Google's use of Java in the Android OS.

Oracle plans to send its president, Safra Catz, as well as Thomas Kurian, who is executive vice president of product development for Oracle. Google offered up Andy Rubin, senior vice president of mobile at the search giant and the creator of Android.

Last week, Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing the dispute between the companies, proposed the mediation, seeking comment on the proposal and asking the companies which executive they would send. Both companies say they support the mediation.

"Oracle has found previous efforts at settlement, including private discussions between the parties, frustrating for lack of follow-through, and believes that those efforts have not exhausted the possibilities for resolving the case," Oracle wrote in its filing.

The judge expects the executives will need to attend the mediation for one or two complete days. While Oracle suggested late September for the mediation, the court has not yet set a date.

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.

The trial is set to start on Oct. 31.

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