A federal appeals court on Thursday gave Apple Inc. new legal leverage over Samsung Electronics Co. in the smartphone wars, ruling the iPhone maker was entitled to an injunction barring Samsung from using certain phone features that violated Apple’s patents.

“Samsung’s 005930, +2.85%  infringement harmed Apple AAPL, -2.14%  by causing lost market share and lost downstream sales and by forcing Apple to compete against its own patented invention,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a ruling that deeply divided the three judges who considered the case.

The appeals court, a special court based in Washington that hears patent appeals, said a California trial court that previously denied Apple’s request “abused its discretion when it did not enjoin Samsung’s infringement.”

The decision is a notable win for Apple, which has argued Samsung should have to do more than pay monetary damages for infringing upon Apple’s patented technology. Apple had argued that ongoing infringement by Samsung damaged its reputation as an innovator and caused it to lose sales of devices and downstream products.

While Apple has been able to obtain monetary judgments against its South Korean rival for patent infringement, courts on previous occasions have declined to give Apple additional leverage by barring Samsung from selling infringing features in its devices. Thursday’s decision reversed that trend.

Source: The Wall Street Journal