A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that a lower court should reconsider a sales ban against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 won by Apple earlier this year.

Despite Apple victory in last month's main legal battle against Samsung - which awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages- the jury had also found that Samsung had not violated the patent that was the basis for the tablet injunction and Samsung argued the sales ban should be lifted. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said she could not act because Samsung had already appealed.The Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington on Friday said Koh could now consider the issue.

Samsung Galaxy 10.1 is an older model and the S. Korean company is expected to unveil the second generation of one of its most successful devices next month, the stylus-equipped Galaxy Note II.