While Vinod Khosla fights a state Coastal Commission order to open the gates of Martins Beach, the billionaire owner has gained a victory on another legal front — a San Mateo County judge’s finding that there was no evidence the property’s previous owners had granted a right of access to the public by displaying billboards and inviting visitors.

Superior Court Judge Steven Dylina announced his ruling Nov. 3 after conducting a nonjury trial in a suit by a group called Friends of Martins Beach. Dylina has not yet issued a written decision.

In a separate suit by the Surfrider Foundation, state courts have ruled that Khosla should have obtained a permit from the Coastal Commission, which regulates coastal development, before closing the gates to the beach in 2010. He has periodically admitted the public in recent weeks, but the commission says he faces substantial fines if he resumes blocking access.

Khosla’s lawyers have argued that any state interference with his “right to exclude the public from private property” would amount to an unconstitutional confiscation of his land. He previously offered to sell the state an easement, allowing public access, for $30 million. Legislation is pending in Sacramento to take over the land, for a price to be determined by the courts.

The Friends of Martins Beach suit seeks public access without charge, other than parking fees.

Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, bought nearly 90 acres of picturesque beachfront land in Half Moon Bay for $32.5 million in 2008 from the Deeney family, who had owned it since the start of the 20th century. According to the lawsuit, the Deeneys opened the beach and an access road to the public sometime in the 1930s, posting a billboard on a nearby highway and allowing visitors to picnic, fish and surf while shopping at the family’s general store.

A state appeals court ruled in April 2016 that those actions could show the Deeneys’ intent to “dedicate the road and beach to public use” and establish rights that a future owner could not revoke. The court returned the case to Superior Court for a trial on disputed facts in the case.

Dylina, who took over the case after each side exercised its right to challenge a judge who had been assigned to it, ruled that Friends of Martins Beach had failed to prove the former owners intended to grant a public right of access. A lawyer for the group said Wednesday it would ask the appeals court to overturn Dylina’s decision.

“We had the evidence and the witnesses” to show that the former owners invited the public to the beach, said attorney Gary Redenbacher.

Khosla’s lawyers could not be reached for comment.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@egelko