In a filing at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday, May 16, the companies asked the court to dismiss the cases.

“Apple and Google have agreed to dismiss all the current lawsuits that exist directly between the two companies,” a joint statement from them read.

The statement added that they have “agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform”.

Apple and companies that make smartphones using Google's Android software have filed dozens of lawsuits against each other around the world in recent years.

The most high-profile case between Apple and Motorola began in 2010.

Motorola accused Apple of infringing several patents, while Apple said Motorola violated its patents to certain smartphone features.

The case was dismissed shortly before trial after Judge Richard Posner ruled neither company had sufficient evidence to prove its case.

However, the agreement does not apply to Apple's continuing war with its South Korea-based rival Samsung, another user of Android technology.

Following the latest battle between the two, a jury at the US District Court for the Northern District of California ordered Samsung to pay Apple $119 million for infringing two patents.

Last week, in another case involving Android technology, Samsung failed to have a lawsuit brought against it by The Rockstar Consortium, a technology group backed by major companies including Apple and Microsoft, dismissed.

Filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in October last year, the lawsuit accuses Samsung and several other companies that use Android technology of patent infringement.

However, in a judgment issued on May 15, the court rejected Samsung’s claim that one of the seven patents asserted against it was not patentable.

Rockstar’s development can be traced back to 2009, when Canada-based telecommunications company Nortel went out of business and auctioned a lucrative portfolio containing more than 6,000 of its patents.

The portfolio was sold in 2011 to Rockstar, which was backed by Microsoft, Apple, RIM, Ericsson and Sony.

It outbid Google with a $4.5 billion offer.