Appeals court denies review on Samsung phone ban

A US appeals court Thursday refused to reconsider an an appeal from Apple that sought a ban on Google-branded Samsung smartphones amid the patent fight between the two companies. As part of a series of legal battles in the case, the Federal Appeals Court panel in Washington rejected Apple's request for an "en banc" review by the full court of the October decision from a three-judge panel of the same court. This latest decision denied Apple's petition without comment. South Korea's Samsung remains under an order to pay over $1 billion to Apple for infringement of patents used on the iPhone and other Apple devices. But it remains unclear if the verdict from last August will result in any sales bans or other remedies, such as royalty payments. In October, the appellate panel overturned an injunction issued for the Galaxy Nexus phone as part of the lengthy patent case, saying the lower court "abused its discretion." California judge Lucy Koh had issued the injunction June 29, before the landmark jury ruling that found Samsung illegally copied features from Apple's iconic iPhone. Koh ordered the temporary ban, saying Apple "has shown a likelihood of establishing both infringement and validity" of its patents related to the iPhone's Siri virtual assistant software. But the appeals court said Apple must show not only that it would suffer "irreparable harm" but "establish that the harm is sufficiently related to the infringement."