A US jury yesterday handed Apple a sweeping victory in its legal war with Samsung, ruling that the Korean company had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarding the US company $1.051 billion in damages.

The verdict could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products and will likely solidify Apple’s dominance of the exploding mobile computing market.

A number of companies that sell smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system may now face further legal

challenges from Apple, a company that is already among the largest and most profitable in business history.

The jury deliberated for less than three days before delivering the verdict on seven Apple patent claims and five Samsung patent claims – suggesting that the nine-person panel had little difficulty in concluding that Samsung had

copied the iPhone and the iPad.

Billions of dollars in future sales hang in the balance.

Apple’s charges that Samsung copied its designs and features are widely viewed as an attack on Google and its Android software, which drives Samsung’s devices and has become the most-used mobile software.

Apple and Samsung, two companies that sell more than half the world’s smartphones and tablets, have locked legal horns in several countries this year.

Earlier yesterday, a South Korean court found that both companies shared blame, ordering Samsung to stop selling 10 products including its Galaxy S II phone and banning Apple from selling four different products, including its iPhone 4.

But the trial on Apple’s home turf – the world’s largest and most influential technology market – is considered the most important. The fight began last year when Apple sued Samsung in multiple countries, accusing the South Korean company of slavishly copying the iPhone and iPad.

Samsung countersued. Apple had sought more than $2.5 billion in damages from Samsung, which has disputed that figure. –(Reuters)