EchoStar gets another decision
in battle with Gemstar

By Susan Rush
from CED Broadband Direct, July 29, 2002

Marking the third loss for Gemstar-TV Guide International in about a month, a U.S. District Court judge in North Carolina has ruled that EchoStar Communications Corp. did not infringe on any of the Gemstar patents involved in this particular case.

Judge Lacy Thornburg dismissed the case and awarded court costs to EchoStar. Earlier this month, Judge Thornburg ruled that all but two EchoStar products did not infringe on Gemstar's patents. The judge said she needed more information before she could rule on the two remaining products.

Gemstar sill has some litigation pending against EchoStar in Atlanta and North Carolina.

In June, the International Trade Commission ruled that Gemstar competitors did not engage in unfair trade practices with regards to Gemstar's patented IPGs. EchoStar, as well as Scientific-Atlanta Inc. and Pioneer New Media Technologies Inc., was named in the suit. In his ruling, Paul Luckern, the ITC administrative law judge, said Gemstar failed to establish that any of the respondents has infringed on its patents.