Gemstar-EchoStar Court Ruling Overturned

Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. got some good news in court Friday.

The company said a federal court overturned a lower court’s ruling in a patent-infringement suit it and SuperGuide Corp. filed against EchoStar Communications Corp.

The federal court sent the nearly four-year-old suit -- which alleged that EchoStar violated three of SuperGuide's patents for on-screen program guides for satellite-TV services -- back to the lower court.

Gemstar-TV Guide issued a press release Friday saying the federal court ruled that the North Carolina district court "incorrectly construed" certain patent claims.