Samsung's bid to get a preliminary injunction outlawing the sale of Apple's iPhone 4S in Italy has failed, according to ANSA, the Italian wire service.

The decision is Samsung's third failure in Europe. Last month a similar attempt was shot down by a French court and before that Holland said no.

Apple, on the other hand, is appealing the rejection of its bid to get four Samsung widgets outlawed in the United States to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and the temporary injunctions it managed to get against Samsung in Germany, the Netherlands and Australia are being reviewed. If the courts find they shouldn't have been granted Apple could wind up owing its nemesis money.

Patent watcher Florian Mueller says "Both Apple and Samsung were trying to rush things in order to score some quick wins of rulings with a profound disruptive impact on each other's business. This didn't work. They're both going to have to focus on regular, full-blown proceedings rather than the fast-track proceedings triggered by requests for preliminary injunctions."