Seoul, Sep 19 (IANS): Samsung has lost its lawsuit against Apple over the "slide to unlock" feature on touch-screen smartphones, sources said.

A US court said the patent infringement by Samsung led to a decline in sales of Apple products, sending the case back to a California federal court.

"Samsung can effect the removal of the patented features without recalling any products or disrupting customer use of its products," the court said. "Apple has not attempted to expand the scope of its monopoly," the US court said.

"Apple seeks only a narrow feature-based injunction commensurate in scope with its monopoly rights," Yonhap news agency quoted the court as stating on Saturday.

The US district court for the northern district of California earlier ruled Samsung had not infringed Apple's patent intentionally.

Industry watchers, however, said even though the latest decision is finalised, it will not effect Samsung's smartphone sales as the South Korean tech giant has not been using the feature.

While the "slide to unlock" feature requires a user to touch a specific spot on the display, Samsung smartphones are now capable of being unlocked by swiping anywhere on the screen.