Meanwhile, South Korean smartphone maker adds iPhone 5 to list of Apple products it says infringes patents.
A judge on Monday lifted a ban on U.S. sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 computers as the South Korean firm added Apple's new iPhone 5 to a patent brawl between the two market rivals.
U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh issued an order clearing the way for Samsung (IW 1000/15) to restart sales of the Tab 10.1 tablets that were halted while it dueled with Apple in a high-stakes trial.
A jury declared on Aug. 24 that Samsung should pay Apple (IW 500/9) $1.049 billion in damages for illegally copying iPhone and iPad features, in one of the biggest patent cases in decades -- a verdict that could have huge market repercussions.
However, the jury agreed that Samsung did not abuse design patents that were the grounds for a temporary ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1 imports that Koh put in place at Apple's behest in June.
"The sole basis for the June 26 preliminary injunction no longer exists," Koh wrote in her ruling. "The court finds it proper to dissolve the injunction."
In a statement, Samsung welcomed the ruling, saying it "vindicates our position that there was no infringement of Apple's design patent and that an injunction was not called for."
However, Koh denied a request by Samsung for $2.6 million that Apple had posted as a bond to "pay the costs and damages sustained by any party found to have been wrongfully enjoined or restrained."
The court will hold onto the bond cash pending resolution of post-verdict legal motions that could bear on whether the ban was a wrongful restraint.
Koh is on record noting that the August jury verdict in her San Jose, Calif., courtroom did not represent a "final ruling" in the case since it was being appealed.
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