"Reuters" (http://macte.ch/y6t3o) reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page have been holding behind-the-scenes conversations about a range of intellectual property matters, including the ongoing mobile patent disputes between the companies.

Quoting unnamed "people familiar with the matter," the article says the two CEOs had a phone conversation last week. One source told "Reuters" that a meeting was scheduled for this Friday, but had been delayed for reasons that were unclear.

All this is part of an ongoing battle between the two companies. Apple has previously alleged that Motorola infringes 24 of its patents (21 of them with Android-based phones, the remaining three with set-top boxes and DVRs), while Motorola previously asserted 18 patents against a variety of Apple products (mostly but not exclusively iPhone, iPad and iPod). Litigation between the two companies has taken place in several different federal courts.

In November 2010 Apple sued Motorola, alleging that the company's smartphone lineup and the operating software it uses infringe on the iPhone-maker's intellectual property. The two lawsuits came after Motorola sued Apple in October 2010 for patent infringement. Motorola claims that Apple's iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and certain Mac computers infringe Motorola patents.