As we reported this week, the . Now, the Court has ordered Apple and HTC's lawyers, and other 'decision makers' such as their CEOs, to discuss a patent settlement, reports .

The court "expects the parties' full and good faith cooperation with the mediation process" and "encourages all participants to keep an open mind in order to reassess their previous positions and to find creative means for resolving the dispute".

Apple and Samsung are also set to meet to deliberate over a settlement next week.

Late last year, the and issued an injunction against the importation of offending HTC products. HTC said it would remove the technology from its phones but the ban would suggest that it has failed to do so.

Apple accused HTC of infringing 20 patents and a complaint, which alleged unfair importation practices back in 2010. HTC was the first Android device maker to be sued by Apple. Apple has attacked makers of devices using Google's Android OS. Jobs famously said he would go "Thermonuclear" over Android.