With the high-profile trial in the Apple-Samsung patent-infringement lawsuit scheduled to commence of July 30 in a San Jose, California, federal court, a last-week settlement conference between Apple and Samsung chiefs ended with the companies' disagreement on the value of each other's patents. Earlier, a similar session in May had failed to produce any settlements.

According to the information shared by an unnamed `inside' source, the court-directed mediation for the possible settlement of the patent dispute between the two bigwig consumer electronics corporations took place in the San Francisco area last Monday, and involved the participation of Apple CEO Tim Cook and top Samsung executives - Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung and mobile chief Shin Jong-Kyun.

Disclosing that Cook and Samsung executives disagreed on the value of each other's patents, the source - on the condition of anonymity - said that though the possibility of a settlement between the two companies is `always possible,' it is highly unlikely to come ahead of the California trial.

One of the key issues of the dispute between Apple and Samsung is how to ascertain the value of the so-called standard essential patents, which Samsung agreed to license to rivals on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory
(FRAND) terms, in lieu for having the technology be adopted as an industry standard.

The fact that complicates the matter between Apple and Samsung is that while the two companies are arch-rivals in the smartphone and tablet arena, Apple also happens to be one of Samsung's biggest component customers!