A U.S. appeals court on Monday rejected Apple Inc's request that the full court immediately hear the company's request for a permanent injunction against the sale of several Samsung Electronics Co Ltd phones.

A lower court judge had rejected Apple's bid for a permanent injunction. In its ruling on Monday, the Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., said a three-judge panel will first consider Apple's appeal, and the full appeals court would not decide whether to hear the case until after that.

(Reporting By Dan Levine; Editing by Leslie Adler)