The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled on Monday that Applecould press its bid for an immediate block on the sale of some tablet computers made by Samsung based on allegations of infringement of a patent. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the judge in a district court in California had erred in deciding that Apple failed to show that it was likely to succeed on the merits.

"I agree that we should defer to the district court's findings on that issue. I also agree with the majority that the district court erred in its analysis of the validity of Apple's tablet computer design patent - U.S. Design Patent No. D504,889," Circuit Judge O'MALLEY said.

The specific patent is just one of many other part of a larger legal proceeding in California. Last month,Apple and Samsung agreed that their chief executives would participate in settlement talks to try to resolve the dispute.