Court rules for Scientific-Atlanta in a set-top box suit

ATLANTA - A federal judge ruled Friday that Scientific-Atlanta did not infringe on patents of Gemstar-TV Guide International for cable television set-top boxes. <br> <br> Scientific-Atlanta officials say they won a summary judgment against the publisher of TV Guide one day after a ruling in its favor by the International Trade Commission. <br> <br> The officials also said that the U.S. District Court in Atlanta also denied Gemstar&#39;s cross-motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit over Scientific-Atlanta&#39;s Explorer set-top boxes. <br> <br> There are additional patents at issue in the Atlanta court between Scientific-Atlanta and Gemstar, which is 42 percent owned by Rupert Murdoch&#39;s News Corp. <br> <br> Scientific Atlanta allowed a license agreement with Gemstar to expire in 1999. Gemstar subsequently sued the company for continuing to ship boxes that contained an interactive programming guide Gemstar claimed was based on its patents. <br> <br> In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission almost five months ago, Gemstar said it recorded more than $107 million in revenue over 29 months from the Scientific-Atlanta agreement even though none of the money had been paid. That was based on expectations that it would win its lawsuit. <br> <br> In June, Judge Paul J. Luckern of the International Trade Commission ruled against Gemstar.