The chiefs of iPhone-maker Apple and smartphone giant Samsung have agreed to meet in the coming months to try to resolve patent disputes before the matters go to trial, legal filings showed.

At the behest of a San Francisco federal court, Apple boss Tim Cook and Samsung chief Gee-Sung Choi will take part in settlement talks presided over by a judge, according to filings posted online at Foss Patents blog.

"The parties have indicated they are willing to participate in a Magistrate Judge Settlement Conference," San Francisco district court Judge Lucy Koh said, according to a copy of a legal order posted on the blog.

"Therefore, the parties are hereby referred to an MJSC with Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero with a 90-day deadline."

Koh is presiding over two patent lawsuits pitting the companies against one another and wants them to resolve their differences before looming trials, the first of which is slated to begin in July.

Apple and Samsung, a leading maker of smartphones and tablets using Google-backed Android mobile software, are fighting patent battles in more than half a dozen countries.