Apple's request for a permanent injunction against Samsung smartphones was turned down because it was not in the public interest to deprive US consumers of the South Korean products for "non-core features" covered by Apple patents, Judge Lucy Koh said in her ruling late on Monday.

In August, Apple was awarded $1.05 billion (780 million euros) in damages after a US jury had found that Samsung copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad.

However, Judge Lucy Koh, presiding over the District Court in San Jose, said the infringing components constituted just limited parts of Samsung's complex, multi-featured products.

"First and most importantly, Apple has not been able to link the harms it has suffered to Samsung's infringement of any of Apple's six utility and design patents," she added.

Apple sought a sales ban on a total of 26 Samsung products, including the firm's flagship Galaxy S smartphones and its tablet computer model Galaxy Tab 10.1. The US technology giant and its South Korean rival are locked in a series of patent infringement lawsuits all over the world, in their fight for supremacy in the global mobile phone market.

While a US Court in August ruled in favor of Apple, two separate rulings by courts in Japan and the Netherlands dismissed Apple's claims of patent infringement.

uhe/hc (Reuters, AFP, dapd)