As the courts around the world review various patent infringement cases that Apple filed against its rivals and the latter against Apple, the Cupertino, California-based company is reportedly holding secret negotiations with Google, the company behind Android operating system, the arch-rival of Apple on the market of ultra-portable devices.

The legal clashes between Apple and Samsung, HTC and others are believed  to have more to do with the Android operating system in general, which is the most popular platform for smartphones these days, rather than with particular devices or implementations in particular. Therefore, the hush-hush negotiations between Tim Cook of Apple and Larry Page of Google may have ramifications on the market that can hardly be overestimated.

According to Reuters news-agency, the two executives had a phone conversation last week and negotiations involving lower-level officials for Apple and Google are also ongoing. The conversation between Page and Cook last week did not result in any formal agreement, but the two executives agreed to continue talking, according to one source.

The top execs for Apple and Google reportedly talked about a range of intellectual property matters. One potential development under consideration could be a truce involving disputes over essential features and functions in Google's Android operating systems, such as shape of icons, "slide to unlock" and others.

Apple and Google did not comment on the news-story.

Tags: Apple, Google, Android, iOS, Samsung, HTC