US court lifts sales ban on Samsung Galaxy Tab

Samsung has scored a victory in its patent dispute with fellow electronics giant Apple.

A US district court in northern California has removed a temporary sales ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, which had been won by Apple.

The South Korean company will be able to sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the United States in the run-up to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season.

Samsung said that the lifting of the ban "vindicates our position that there was no infringement of Apple's design patent and that an injunction was not called for".

In August, Apple won its case against Samsung on many of its patent violation claims.

However, Samsung's alleged patent violation did not extend to the specific design issue which was the basis for the injunction imposing the sales ban.

Samsung has started countersuing Apple, alleging the new iPhone 5 breaches some its patents.