NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) was handed a mixed ruling by a U.S. appeals court in the latest twist in a blockbuster intellectual property battle with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , as a prior patent infringement verdict was upheld but a trademark finding that the iPhone’s appearance could be protected was thrown out. In the highly anticipated ruling stemming from the global smartphone wars, the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.