Apple and Samsung CEOs to attend mediation session over patent dispute

Apple and Samsung have agreed to a mediation session next month ahead of a trial in March over smartphone patent infringements.

Chief executive Tim Cook and Oh-Hyun Kwon will be joined by in-house lawyers and an unnamed professional with “experience of mediating high-profile disputes”, according to documents filed with the Californian courts.

Apple and Samsung’s legal teams have already met to discuss “settlement opportunities”, according to the filing.

The two companies are hoping to resolve issues surrounding smartphone patents, a long-running dispute that spans several countries and has cost both parties hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees.

The world’s top two smartphone makers have appeared in court twice in the past two years to fight their cases and US juries have awarded Apple around $930 million (£565 million) in damages for patent infringement.