Court quashes Apple move to stop Samsung Galaxy sales

The iPad maker, in its lawsuit filed in a federal court in San Jose, California, sought an order blocking Samsung from selling its Galaxy line of mobile devices in the US based on claims they violate Apple patents. The lawsuit is part of a legal battle between the companies being fought in 10 countries, including Australia, where the High Court on Friday granted Apple a further delay of court orders overturning an earlier ruling which banned the device from sale.

Samsung said in a statement that the US federal court ruling confirmed its long-held view that Apple's arguments lacked merit.

"In particular, the court has recognised that Samsung has raised substantial questions about the validity of certain of Apple's design patents," the statement said.

The two companies have filed at least 30 lawsuits against each other, Samsung said. The conflict began in April, when Apple filed the San Jose lawsuit claiming the South Korean company's Galaxy devices copied the iPhone and iPad.

"It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging," a spokeswoman for Apple, Kristin Huguet, said on Saturday.

The suits between the companies are made more complex by their relationship: Samsung is the second-largest component supplier for Apple and gets about 7.6 per cent of its total revenue from selling memory chips, displays and other components for the iPhone and iPad.