Last Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of San Jose California rejected Apple's request to permanently ban sales of Samsung's older smartphones in the U.S.. According to Reuters' report, the reason for the request rejection was insufficient evidence to show the patented features to be significant enough so as to grant an injunction. Judge Koh said that Apple failed to demonstrate its claim of lost sales due to its rival's copying. Koh added that Apple's survey was "unpersuasive".

Samsung was pleased with the ruling regarding the cancelled ban of its products. Even though the company does not sell older models of its smartphones - which were the targets of the injunction request - in the U.S. anymore, Apple insists the order is important for Samsung to prevent copying in the future.

The Korean company argued that Apple is targeting its new products to create uncertainty among retailers and carriers.

Smartphone maker giants Apple and Samsung have been fighting in court for almost three years, regarding patent issues such as the use of fingers to zoom and pinch on screen; and design elements, such as Samsung's black, flat, glass screen.

Still, everything is not all happiness for Samsung, as the company has been ordered to pay the iPhone maker $930 million, as awarded by U.S. juries to Apple. However, the requested sales ban would be a bigger threat for the Korean electronics maker, who earned $7.7 billion last quarter. Samsung is currently planning to appeal the decision regarding the $930 million awarded to Apple.

'Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.' is how the case is officially referred to, and is currently in the United States District Court, Northern District of California.