US ITC Rejects Kodak Patent Claims Against Apple And RIM

A Kodak patent claim against RIM and Apple has been dismissed on appeal.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) upheld a May ruling that both companies did not violate Kodak’s patent which relates to how a digital camera previews images.  The decision is a huge blow for the beleaguered photography company, which had been hoping to use its portfolio of patents to raise money while in bankruptcy.

Apple’s Kodak Moment

Kodak had been hoping to claim $1 billion over the issue and plans to appeal the ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington DC – although the ITC has said that as far as it’s concerned, its investigation is terminated.

The Kodak patent in question has been upheld by previous litigation at the ITC and has been affirmed by the US Patent and Trade Office, said Kodak, adding that it is confident that its validity will be upheld in any appeal.

The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January and patent litigation has become an increasingly important method of raising revenue. It has previously accused Apple of deliberately sabotaging its patent auction.

Analyst Florian Mueller has said that Apple is now in a strong position and even if Kodak decided to settle, the Cupertino-based company would only have to pay a small fraction of the $550 million that Samsung paid for a license back in 2010.

“Distilled to its essence, this patent really made no contribution whatsoever to imaging technology,” said Mueller. “If this is the best patent that Kodak has (I doubt it, but it’s what Kodak’s lawyers apparently thought after the favourable initial determination in 2009), its creditors shouldn’t expect it to extract much value out of its patent portfolio.”

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