Officials with DirecTV and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) praised a federal judge’s ruling Monday that denied a request from Pegasus Satellite Television for a temporary restraining order that sought to prevent implementation of a new marketing agreement between DirecTV and the NRTC. The court’s ruling allows DirecTV to market its service and activate new customers in rural U.S. territories where Pegasus previously sold DirecTV services exclusively, officials with the satellite TV service provider said. The judge also held that the NRTC did not owe Pegasus a fiduciary duty, as a matter of law, NRTC officials said.

DirecTV and the NRTC agreed to a new marketing relationship on June 1 that spurred Pegasus to file for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. bankruptcy court in Portland, Maine. The Pegasus request for a temporary restraining order is a byproduct of those developments.

While the latest ruling is preliminary, it shows Pegasus’ case is “futile,” said Bob Phillips, the cooperative’s CEO and president.