Cupertino-based Apple was dealt a triple whammy this week following the decision by a California judge on Thursday not to allow the inclusion of Samsung's Galaxy S4 in the patent infringement lawsuit it filed against its South Korean tech rival.

The decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal, in effect, would mean lesser or no chances that the best-selling S4 and other newer Samsung smartphones and tablets would be banned from being sold in the U.S., which is the ultimate aim of the patent infringement lawsuit.

The favourable decision for Samsung is the third hit on Apple this week after its share price went down below $400 following the publication of a report that the American tech giant cut its order for the third and fourth quarters of 2013 due to expected weaker sales.

In rejecting the inclusion of the S4 in list of Samsung products that the Asian tech company allegedly infringed Apple patent, Mr Grewal said adding another products to the lawsuit taxes the court's resources.

"Each time these parties appear in the courtroom, they consumer considerable amounts of the court's time and energy, which takes time away from other parties who also require and are entitled to the court's attention," Bloomberg quoted the judge.

Josh Krevitt, Apple's lawyer, said that Mr Grewal's ruling excluding the S3 would mean that Apple would need to file a new lawsuit because by the time the court reaches a decision possibly in 2014, the Samsung products covered by the lawsuit will be out of date.

The lawsuit is schedule to go on trial in March 2014. Apple insists that Samsung breached five of its patents related to Siri, data synchronisation and graphical user interface elements.

Apple even offered to remove one Samsung product from the list of 22 gadgets it claimed infringed the company's patent just to include the popular S4, but Mr Grewal thumbed down the proposal.

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