Samsung on Thursday (December 12) lost its bid to ban sales of Apple's older iPhone and iPad in South Korea after a court dismissed a lawsuit claiming the U.S. firm had infringed on three of Samsung's mobile patents.

The lawsuit was part of the tech giants' global courtroom battle dating to 2011, when Apple first sued Samsung for copying the look and feel of its iconic iPhone and iPad.

A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said Apple products such as the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and iPad 2 did not violate Samsung patents on short message display methods and messaging grouping features.

The court ruled against a sale ban on the products and threw out Samsung's claim for 100 million won (£58,115) in damages.

"Regarding the claims over two patents, we cannot recognise it as a patent infringement. It can be easily developed from previous technology of smartphones, so there is no advancement (in technology)," said the judge.

If there is no advancement in technology because there is another similar one, the patents cannot be protected, the judge added.

In a statement, Samsung said it was disappointed by the court's decision and it will continue to take the measures necessary to protect its intellectual property rights.

Apple and Samsung have gone to trial twice in the past two years in a San Jose, California federal court, where juries have awarded Apple roughly $930 million in damages.

Presented by Adam Justice