Gemstar generated revenues by licensing the various generations of its VCR Plus
product and related technologies that it developed to companies in the broadcasting
and electronic communications industries. A major feature of Gemstar’s business
model was acquiring a wide range of patents that allowed the company to gain effective
control of programming and search technologies vital to companies in those
industries. Gemstar eventually acquired nearly one hundred such patents. Another
feature of Gemstar’s business model was closely monitoring the efforts of other companies
to develop technologies similar to those that it had patented. When a potential infringement of a Gemstar patent was discovered, Yuen would immediately fi le a lawsuit
or multiple lawsuits against the offending company. Yuen’s legal background was
a key factor that helped Gemstar prevail in most of these lawsuits.