Apple and Samsung have renewed their talks to reach a settlement in the patent infringement case leading back to 2011, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The case, which ended with a $1 billion verdict in Apple's favor last summer, was one of the highest profile patent infringement cases in recent years.

After refusing to settle out of court last year, Apple has been apparently having closed-door conversations with Samsung officials for some time now. The conversations have included face to face meetings in Seoul, South Korea, Samsung's home town. The WSJ notes that a settlement was very nearly reached towards the end of February, before things started to cool down.

Samsung's offer to Apple was for a broad cross-licensing deal, which would settle all of the disagreements between the two companies. However, it's not clear if Apple was interested in making such a deal, as it hadn't been in the past. A document released by the International Trade Commission in June for a decision to bar the import of older Apple devices mentions that the settlement talks existed, but it omits details of what the settlement would be. Apple extended a settlement offer to Samsung back in September of last year, after it won the $1 billion decision, but more extensive talks apparently happened between December and March, including face to face meetings in January and February. Samsung made an offer to reopen discussions in March, though it is not clear if Apple has accepted that offer.

At this point, the ongoing legal battles between the two companies don't seem to be anywhere near over: Samsung still doesn't agree with the major patent infringement decision awarded to Apple last year, and Apple for its part disagrees with the ITC's decision in Samsung's favor this year. Chances are these will continue to play out in court for many more years, unless these two titans of technology are able to come to an unexpected agreement.