In one of the major upsets in the patent war for the iPhone maker, a US judge on Thursday refused Apple Inc's move to ban Samsung smartphones and tablets in the United States.

However, Lucy Koh, a US district judge, who oversaw the patent trial, finalised the damage award of USD 929 million to be paid by the South Korean electronics giant to Apple.

A year ago, a jury had awarded over USD 1 billion for patent infringement. However, the judge ordered a retrial of the case and the final award amount was fixed at USD 929 million.

In a court order, a judge is reported to have denied Apple's request to ban 23 Samsung devices stating that there were no evidence that infringement elements were driving the consumer demand.

"To persuade the court to grant Apple such an extraordinary injunction to bar such complex devices for incorporating three touchscreen software features — Apple bears the burden to prove that these three touchscreen software features drive consumer demand for Samsung's products", the judge wrote. "Apple has not met this burden".

Both sides have been appealing various aspects of the case, which is likely to be tied up in courts for some time barring an agreement between the two companies.

But because of the fast-moving nature of the business, the devices at issue in the case are no longer being sold.

    

Judge Koh noted that "the only new fact is that Samsung represents that no infringing units are currently in the marketplace".

She added that "Apple presents no evidence that any current Samsung devices incorporate the patented features. As such, it appears that the public interest slightly favors Samsung".