WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An appeals court refused a request by Samsung Electronics to allow it to sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the United States while it fights accusations that the device illegally copies the Apple iPad. "Samsung's request for an immediate stay is denied," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a brief order. Apple and Samsung Electronics, the world's largest consumer electronics companies, are waging legal battles in about 10 countries, accusing each other of patent infringement as they vie for supremacy in a fast-growing market for mobile devices. The decision is the latest to go against Samsung in a U.S. court but is unlikely to severely depress the Asian tech-power's bottom line since it is rolling out new tablet and smartphone models. On Friday, Samsung announced that soaring sales of its smartphones helped drive a record $5.9 billion quarterly profit. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, rejected Samsung's request to lift her June 26 order to halt sales of the tablet, which runs on Google Inc's Android operating system and goes toe-to-toe with the iPad. Koh also slapped a pre-trial ban on sales of Samsung's Galaxy Nexus phone a week ago. Samsung's Galaxy touchscreen tablets are considered by many industry experts to be the main rival to the iPad, though they are currently a distant second to Apple's devices. Apple sold 13.6 million iPads from January through March to control 63 percent of the global tablet market, according to research from Display Search. The case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is No. Reporting By Diane Bartz; Editing by Tim Dobbyn