A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected Samsung Electronics Co.’s request to allow the sales of its tablet computer until its patent dispute with Apple Inc. is concluded, sources said Friday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the injunction imposed by a lower California court remains binding and that the South Korean tech giant cannot sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the country until its legal dispute with Apple is resolved.

The District Court of Northern California on June 26 accepted Apple’s claims that Samsung violated its patents. The ruling took effect after the iPhone maker posted a required bond of $2.6 million, which would later be used to compensate Samsung if the preliminary injunction is reversed.

The same court had turned down an earlier request by Samsung to suspend the preliminary injunction barring sales of its tablet computer.

The latest ruling is a setback for Samsung, which has been engaged in a long-drawn dispute over infringement of design and technology patents. The dispute has expanded into a patent war spanning 10 countries in four continents.

Despite such reverses, Samsung said it probably posted a record operating profit in the second quarter on strong sales of its flagship Galaxy series smartphones.

It estimated its operating profit to reach 6.7 trillion won ($5.9 billion) for the April-June period, up 78.7 percent from a year earlier and 14.5 percent from three months before. 

(Yonhap News)