Judge denies Apple request to ban Samsung phones

Updated: Tue 3:45 AM, Dec 18, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal judge has denied a legal request by Apple Inc. to ban U.S. sales of Samsung smartphone models that a jury in August said illegally used Apple technology.

In a ruling issued Monday night, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh turned down the request.

Koh's ruling comes after Apple this summer was awarded $1.05 billion in damages after a jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad.

Earlier this year, Apple lawyer Harold McElhinny had claimed that Samsung "willfully" made a business decision to copy Apple's iPad and iPhone, and he called the jury's $1.05 billion award a "slap in the wrist."

In turn, Samsung lawyer Charles Verhoeven had argued that Apple was trying to tie up Samsung in courts around the world rather than competing with it head-on.

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