Apple's $120 Million Patent Victory Against Samsung Overturned

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Samsung has finally scored a win in its long-running patent battle with Apple.

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a 2014 verdict that slapped the South Korean tech giant with nearly $120 million in damages for violating Apple's patents on some iPhone features.

The ruling, from The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, essentially finds that the iPhone features at issue in the case were obvious ones that cannot be protected as intellectual property. As a result, Samsung will not be forced to alter any future designs of its devices.

The ruling also upholds an earlier $158,400 judgement against Apple for infringing one of Samsung's patents.

Apple and Samsung have been locked in a pitched battle over smartphone and tablet patents for years. Last December Samsung paid Apple more than $548 million for infringing the patents and designs of the iPhone, a judgement Samsung has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Apple declined comment.