One of the biggest ongoing feuds in the tech world is well documented and between the giant companies Apple and Samsung. The ongoing patent infringement saga of Apple vs. Samsung rolls on and the longer it takes the more the strengths and weaknesses of both companies will show.

Just a few days ago Apple had a small victory when it was ruled that Samsung had failed to comply with court orders but that was just one small battle in a very long war. Recently Judge Lucy Koh for the District of California managed to persuade both parties to come together at CEO and chief lawyers level for court moderated settlement talks. The latest news is that the meeting has now been set for May 21 and 22 beginning at 9:30 am, by Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero who will also oversee the settlement attempt. Litigation is before the San Jose division while the meetings will take place in a courthouse in San Francisco.

As Judge Spero has no personal involvement in the ongoing litigation it is hoped that both Apple and Samsung may be a little more forthcoming about any weaknesses in their cases but that could be wishful thinking of course. Judge Spero has asked though for a “candid evaluation of the parties’ likelihood of prevailing on the claims and defenses,” so it will certainly be interesting to see if either company concedes anything.

Offensive lawsuits between Apple and Samsung are pending in 10 different countries but a report on Foss Patents points out that in fact the real number is 31. This is because Apple’s lawsuit in Alicante, Spain actually relates to the whole of the European Union, which has a total of 27 member states. Before the lawsuit in Spain, five other European Union countries were already involved in infringement lawsuits between Apple and Samsung, while another four lawsuits were taking place outside the European Union, in the US, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

We can only guess at any eventual outcome to all of this litigation but one thing that’s certain is that it will be interesting to see strengths and weaknesses in the rival cases as they develop further. We’d be interested to hear what you think of the epic litigation between these two giants of the tech world so send us your comments to let us know.