As the actual jury trial in the Apple vs. Samsung patent dispute draws near, the two sides met last Monday in a court-ordered mediation, according to Reuters. To nobody's surprise, the two companies reportedly disagreed "on the value of each other's patents" and so its appears very unlikely that there will be a settlement before the full trial begins. Apparently, Samsung's "standards essential" patents are a major point of contention, with Apple believing they are not worth what Samsung does.
Meanwhile, the two companies have begun their patent trial in Australia. In that trial, Samsung has claimed that "Apple has refused to engage in negotiations" for licensing 3G patents from Samsung — though of course Apple disagrees with that assessment. That doesn't seem too far off from the issues that reportedly failed to be resolved during the mediation between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung and mobile chief Shin Jong-Kyun. While some kind of settlement is still possible (and perhaps the most likely long-term option), in the short term you can expect to hear quite a bit more about these patents as the trials continue.