Apple v Samsung: Judge rejects Apple plea for sales ban

A US judge has rejected Apple's plea to ban sales of Samsung's smartphones that violate its patents.

Apple had requested the ban after a jury ruled earlier this year that some Samsung products had infringed Apple's patents, BBC reports.

Samsung was also ordered to pay $1.05bn (£650m) in damages, a ruling the South Korean firm has since challenged.

However, the judge said there was not enough evidence that the infringed patents had hurt Apple's US sales.

"The phones at issue in this case contain a broad range of features, only a small fraction of which are covered by Apple's patents," District Judge Lucy Koh said.

"Though Apple does have some interest in retaining certain features as exclusive to Apple, it does not follow that entire products must be forever banned from the market because they incorporate, among their myriad features, a few narrow protected functions."