Samsung loses request for iPhone 4S ban in Italy

Apple has claimed another legal victory in its ongoing patent dispute with rival mobile vendor Samsung.

A judge in Italy has denied Samsung's preliminary claims for an injunction which would have halted the sale of the iPhone 4S in the country. The injunction claimed that Apple was in violation of Samsung patents on mobile technology.

Samsung did not return a request for comment on the ruling.

The ruling is the latest turn in the ongoing legal battle between Samsung and Apple over allegations of patent infringement in both the iOS and Android mobile platforms. The two firms have most famously engaged in feuds in Germany and the Netherlands.

In the case, each side has sought to block the sale and import of the other's devices through injunctions and allegations of infringement. The two companies have also filed claims in the US and Australia.

Florian Mueller, an intellectual property expert and legal activist, who has closely followed the feud, said both firms have to this point been largely unsuccessful in their legal manoeuverings.

"Both Apple and Samsung were trying to rush things in order to score some quick wins of rulings, with a profound disruptive impact on each other's business," Mueller wrote in a post to the FOSS Patents blog.

"This didn't work. They are both going to have to focus on regular, full-blown proceedings rather than the fast-track proceedings triggered by requests for preliminary injunctions."