WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court overturned a preliminary injunction banning the sale of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy Nexus smartphone on Thursday, sending the case back to a California court for reconsideration.

Apple had filed a lawsuit in February accusing Samsung of infringing eight patents, and had asked a California court to ban the sale of smartphones it said infringed on its patents. The lower court agreed.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which had previously put a stay on the injunction, ruled that the district court in California "abused its discretion in entering an injunction."

(Reporting By Diane Bartz; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)