Apple has won a landmark case in the US against Samsung, after the US tech giant accused its Korean rival of copying patented smartphone features.

Apple sued over Samsung's duplication of a handful of distinctive iPhone features for which Apple holds patents: the flat screen, the rounded rectangle shape of the phone, and the layout of icons on the screen.

The two firms have been locked in battle since 2011, and Samsung was found liable for having copied Apple’s products in 2012 and ordered to pay $399m (£299m). However, the firms were forced to undergo a retrial over damages, which ended in five days of jury deliberations.

The companies were at loggerheads over how much Samsung is required to compensate Apple under an 1887 law that requires patent infringers to pay "total profit". This led to legal wrangling over whether the law entitled Apple to all the profits from phone sales, or just the profit related to the specific components that were copied.

Samsung said the hefty award ignored the fact that its phones contain more than 200,000 other patents that Apple does not own. Apple argued that the verdict was fair because the iPhone's success was directly tied to its distinctive look.

The jury found that Apple should be paid $539m (£404m), but as Samsung previously paid Apple $399m, if the most recent verdict is upheld on appeal it will result in Samsung making an additional payment to Apple of nearly $140m.

Samsung has not confirmed it will appeal the decision, but it said the decision “flies in the face of a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favour of Samsung on the scope of design patent damages”.

“We will consider all options to obtain an outcome that does not hinder creativity and fair competition for all companies and consumers,” the group added.

Apple said in a statement: “We believe deeply in the value of design. This case has always been about more than money.”