Mediation Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co.

agreed to a mediator in an effort to resolve their patent disputes over smartphone technology before their next trial in San Jose, California, set to begin in March. Senior legal executives at the companies met Jan. 6 to discuss settlement opportunities, according to the agreement filed yesterday in federal court in San Jose. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh requested in November that both sides submit a settlement discussion proposal before trial The companies agreed to retain a mediator who has experience mediating high -profile disputes, according to the filing, which doesnt name the person. The chief executive officers and three to four company lawyers, without any outside attorneys present, will attend the mediation before Feb. 19, according to the filing. Apple and Samsung previously tried and failed to reach agreement in court-ordered settlement negotiations. In 2012, in their first patent-infringement case in San Jose, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero handled negotiations. The companies also met at least twice in 2011 to discuss settling their dispute before the U.S. International Trade Commission, according to a company filing. The two companies have been in and out of U.S. District Court in San Jose as they duel over two related patent lawsuits filed by Apple. Apple won the first one in August 2012, though appeals of the original $1-billion award in the case have kept it bouncing around. At the same time, the two companies are sharpening their swords in advance of a second trial, scheduled for March, over more recent Samsung products that Apple claims violated its patents.

A jury in the California court awarded damages to Apple of $1.05 billion in 2012, after deciding that Samsung had infringed on Apples patents in its products. The damages were reduced after a second trial last year for recalculating a part of the damages, but Samsung still has to pay Apple about $930 million. In December, Apple renewed its motion for a permanent injunction on the sale of Samsungs products that infringed three of its patents, after an appeals court vacated the denial of the injunction. The District Court will now hear arguments on the injunction on Jan. 30.

Although Samsung has claimed that it has discontinued selling the particular models found to infringe or designed around Apples patents, an injunction is important to let Apple combat any future infringement by Samsung through products not more than colorably different fr om those already found to infringe, Apple said in the filing. Apple's and Samsung's legal teams met on January 6 to "discuss settlement opportunities," according to a legal brief revealed by Reuters. The document disclosed that Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook and Samsung Electronics CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon have agreed to attend a mediation session with only in-house lawyers in tow. Apple and Samsung have gone to trial twice in as many years and juries have awarded Apple a total of $930 million. Reuters notes that Apple paid its law firm $60 million in legal fees to file patent litigation against Samsung. The mediation could result in a settlement or a possible licensing agreement between the tech titans that could head off a larger, and more expensive legal battle in March. Pending a settlement, Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd will be heard in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (docket 11-1846) over Apple's claims that Samsung infringed its patents.