Apple and Samsung are reportedly working behind closed doors to hammer out a deal that would end their long-running, globe-spanning feud over mobile technology patents.

The negotiations are building upon "marathon talks" held in 2012 between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung's then-CEO Geesung Choi in San Francisco, according to The Korea Times. The two technology giants, which have been battling over mobile device IP in courtrooms around the world for several years, are scheduled to deliver a joint settlement proposal in a U.S. court by Jan. 8.

Apple and Samsung have been engaged in more than two dozen patent infringement cases in nine countries since April 2011, though about a quarter of those cases are no longer open. A U.S. court last year ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 billion for patent infringements, though that figure was later reduced to about $890 million.

The Times cited an official at South Korea's Fair Trade Commission as saying renewed talks were now underway between relevant parties at Apple and Samsung.

"As far as I know, the companies recently resumed working-level discussions toward the signing of a potential deal. They are in the process of narrowing differences over royalty payments," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

But Apple and Samsung remain "poles apart over the patent values that each has" and how a deal to use each other's technology would be structured, the source said. Samsung is reportedly pushing for a comprehensive, cross-licensing deal that would give it access to a wide range of Apple IP for a lump sum, whereas Apple is looking for as much as $30 or more per Samsung device using Cupertino-owned tech.

"This is all about money and pride. This is not a political issue," the commission official was quoted as saying.

Neither Apple nor Samsung immediately responded to requests for comment.

The Times quoted another source from Samsung as saying that mobile chief J.K. Shin could be dispatched to the U.S. "early next year" to lead face-to-face talks with Cook.

If the two companies are now engaged in serious discussions to end their patent disputes, it certainly hasn't stopped Apple from plowing ahead with legal challenges to Samsung's ability to sell devices which Cupertino claims infringe upon its intellectual property.

Apple recently filed a new motion in a Northern California federal courtthe same one where it and Samsung are due to present their settlement proposal in about a week's timeasking for a ban on a number of Samsung handsets from being sold in the U.S. Cupertino's lawyers asked the court for a hearing on the matter to be held by no later than the end of January.

Last month, a federal appellate court opened the door for Apple to make its latest request, finding that the lower court's Judge Lucy Koh erred in initially denying Apple a permanent injunction against Samsung devices that infringe on three of its patents: Those related to its rubber band, tap-to-zoom, and pinch-to-zoom touch-screen features.

The twist is that Samsung appears to have already stopped selling the devices Apple is asking the U.S. court to forbid them from selling. Apple is seeking its permanent injunction by arguing, in part, that Samsung "will not incur any significant hardship from an injunction because it has stopped selling the particular models found to infringe and claims to have developed design-arounds to Apple's patents," according to the court filing.

Apple's reasoning, per the motion, is that the injunction is necessary because "Samsung frequently brings new products to market" and Apple should have the ability to address possible patent infringements present in those new products should they come to light.

Absent any final settlement over their patent differences, Apple and Samsung are set to battle it out in court in March over newer devices like the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III which weren't part of their earlier cases.

With additional reporting by David Murphy.

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