Celestron Defeats Rival Meade’s Suit

Celestron International Inc., the second-largest maker of high-performance telescopes, didn’t infringe a patent held by larger rival Meade Instruments Corp., a federal judge ruled.

The judge in Santa Ana granted Celestron’s request to dismiss the claim before trial, the Torrance-based firm said. The patent covers a process that uses global positioning satellite gear and computers to find objects in the sky.

Irvine-based Meade, had sought a court order to block closely held Celestron from manufacturing the NexStar line of telescopes. Meade is considering an appeal, said Mark Peterson, the company’s general counsel.