A U.S. appeals court issued an order Monday for a district court to reconsider Apple's bid to prohibit Samsung Electronics from selling some smartphones in the U.S. market.

The ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit offers a new twist in the long-running patent row between the rival firms.

In December, the U.S. District Court in Northern California rejected the injunction request filed by Apple against the South Korean tech giant. Apple has claimed that Samsung products infringed on some of its designs and utility patents related to mobile devices.

The Washington-based appeals court upheld the lower court's refusal to order an injunction on the design patents. But it said the California court abused its discretion in making a decision on utility patents. (Yonhap News)