A South Korean court has imposed a ban on sales by both Samsung and Apple after it ruled that each company had infringed each other's patents.

The pyrrhic victory for the companies will see Apple's older models banned from sale, while some of Samsung's existing models are also banned.

Token damages of US$35,000 were awarded to Samsung, while it was ordered to pay US$15,000 to Apple.

Samsung was found to have infringed on an Apple patent that tells a user they are at the end of the screen when scrolling down it, while Apple was found to have infringed patents related to wireless telecommuncations systems.

However, the court disagreed with Apple's claim that Samsung had copied its product designs.

The sales ban applies to Apple's iPhone3GS, iPhone4, iPad and ipad2, and to Samsung's Galaxy SI and SII, Galaxy Tab and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets.