Samsung fails in French iPhone 4S ban attempt

Samsung has failed in its attempt to have the iPhone 4S banned from sale in France after a court ruled there was not enough evidence to stop Apple's device being sold in the country.

The South Korean firm had issued the filing the day after Apple announced the iPhone 4S, also starting a case in Italy at the same time, in an effort to hit back against the Cupertino firm in their ongoing legal battle.

However, according to messages on Twitter by a French reporter in the court room, the judge ruled that Samsung's claim was "disproportionate" and ordered the firm to pay Apple €100,000 to cover its legal fees.

Samsung acknowledged the court's decision but said it would continue with its challenge due to what it sees as alleged theft of patents in the device.

"We will review the written grounds of today's judgment and continue to take all available options to assert our intellectual property rights to stop this free riding on our technology," it said.

"While Samsung has at all times met its obligations to the fair licensing of its telecommunications standards-related patents, Apple has infringed, by using without license, Samsung's intellectual property in its iPhone4S and other devices."

Apple reiterated its earlier comments that it believes its product designs have been infringed by Samsung but made no direct comment on the decision.

Patent analyst Florian Mueller said in a blog post he expected Apple to win the case as its defence had appeared strong enough to convince the courts not to ban the device from the outset.

"It became clear the legal standard for a preliminary injunction is reasonably high in France, and Apple's lawyers made a number of points [...] which appeared strong enough to dissuade the court from ordering a ban," he said.

He added that the outcome of the case will "likely be taken note of by the Italian court", which is set to deliver its verdict on 16 December.

Mueller added that if the same decision is reached, both firms will need to reconsider their actions in the bitter legal dispute.

"If the Italian bid also fails, the time may come for both Apple and Samsung to realise that you can't win a marathon with a sprint," he said.

"The problem with those 'sprints', in terms of requests for preliminary injunctions that courts can grant after a fast-track proceeding, is that when they fail, they do nothing to enhance the credibility of the respective plaintiff."

Apple recently failed in its bid to stop Samsung selling a raft of devices in the US while Samsung managed to overturn a sales ban that had been granted in Australia.