Samsung Electronics and Apple have begun two-day discussions in the U.S. city of San Francisco to settle their year-long complicated patent dispute at the mediation of a U.S. court.

U.S. media report that Samsung Electronics chief executive Choi Gee-sung sat together with Apple CEO Tim Cook for the direct talks on Monday, local time.

A U.S. court schedule shows that Samsung and Apple will continue the talks on Tuesday.

Attention is being paid to whether the two firms could end their intellectual property dispute in the face-to-face talks.

Over the past year, Samsung and Apple have engaged in nearly 50 patent cases in nine countries, including the U.S. and Japan.