Judge forbids Apple from pursuing Kodak patent claim
Summary: Apple cannot pursue a patent infringement claim through the courts against Kodak while the company is still in bankruptcy, a judge has ruled.
Apple has been told it cannot pursue a patent infringement case against once-leading photography giant Kodak, as it was found to be an "inappropriate way forward" after it was declared bankrupt.
Apple had previously asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge for permission to take the case against Kodak.
Judge Allan Gropper, who oversees Kodak's bankruptcy filing, also known as a Chapter 11, disallowed the suit. The case was centered on a Kodak patent that allows users to preview digital photos on LCD screens. Apple separately sought to determine the ownership of the patent.
A Kodak spokesperson said the company was "pleased", according to Reuters.
But Apple is persisting with taking Kodak to court, or being compensated for the alleged infringement of its patents. Gropper agreed that the case needs to be resolved and "sooner rather than later", but also in a way that it does not impede on Kodak's ongoing bankruptcy case.
Apple is fighting back from a claim made by Kodak in early 2010 when it asked the International Trade Commission to investigate if Apple's iPhone breaches a Kodak-owned patent.
Apple hit back by later filing its own claims against Kodak, and claimed that Kodak "misappropriated" its technology to get the patent, something it called "baseless".
Kodak is looking to sell its patent portfolio, thought to be in the region of 1,100 received applications, which would be worth as much as $2--3 billion. Since 2008, Kodak has generated nearly $2 billion in royalties and licensing fees from patents it retains.
"I would request that the parties report to me on their efforts to come up with a procedure that truly works," the judge said.
Kodak is being held together by a $950 million loan, allowing the company to remain active while it seeks a post-bankruptcy strategy. But Kodak had accused Apple of stalling the patent sale process, which must be rounded off by June under the terms of the loan.
Related:
- Apple seeks permission to sue already bankrupt Kodak
- Kodak selling online photo-sharing services to Shutterfly
- Kodak seeks online photo-sharing business sell-off after outlook panic warning
- Kodak eyes Chapter 11: Patent sale or bust
- Kodak issues panic warning over digital camera sales slump
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Talkback
Umm, what part of "they don't have the money to pay you" . . .
Companies don't go into bankruptcy just for kicks, you know.
*big facepalm*
I know, right?
That's not the issue.
Try selling something you may not own, and see what happens.
Money isn't directly the issue
Kodak is trying to sell off it's patents and, from reports, Apple doesn't want any IP it may own sold off to a 3rd party (eg, "cough" Google "cough").
Other reports have stated that Kodak must go thru the bankruptcy court before it sells off any patents so Apple may not have anything immediate to worry about but it appears to be covering it's bases.
Until true ownership of Kodak's patent portfolio is resolved, Apple has every right to protect it's perceived interests.
" perceived interests" ?
How about I "percieve" I own the US government? Afterall I have paid them a LOT of money in taxes over the past 50 years...so I MUST own some part of it. Right? So they shouldn't be allowed to do anything until I say so.
That's your rational.
Perceived interests?
I find it amazing as to the variety of things that some companies are successful in convincing the Patent Office as being "their intellectual property". A lot of times they wrong on both counts. Very often they use claims of intellectual property as a means of conducting anti-competitive business.
Add this activity to the Patent Trolls who have no use for the patents they collect other than to sue and otherwise sweat cash out of soft targets it's no wonder why this country is on the short end of the innovation stick.
Apple may be hoping to force Kodak to give them their patents outright
Good!
Apple owns it all I say!
Since you went there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_QuickTake
"The Apple QuickTake (codenamed Venus, Mars, Neptune) was one of the first consumer digital camera lines.[1] It was launched in 1994 by Apple Computer and was marketed for three years before being discontinued in 1997. "
So if Casio and Kodak were the first digital cameras in 1995, they were beaten by Apple, by a year.
A Little Reading Comprehension
And what prey tell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Quicktake_200_back.jpg
It sure looks like some sort of LCD display screen.
How about doing just a little more research?
An important line in the article
The later models likely had an LCD after Apple saw other cameras with LCD screens, but the first models didn't seem to have it.
What I want to know is...
The article does not say when Kodak filed against Apple, but Apple counter sued in 2010, 15 or 16 years after the first digital cameras came out! What, they never heard of Kodak before? It just came to their attention? Sheesh!
Question to the blogger
Now regardless of how you feel about "patents" and or Apple
Pagan jim
Wow. you're really reading into this with an Apple slant to it.
Kodak wasn't proven to have infringed on anything, but is has been proven that they are in bankruptcy. It also hasn't been proven that Apple owns anything, but it has been proven they have billions in cash
Do you really love Apple that much that you feel they should be allowed to pull an unerhanded stunt like this?
Your seem to assume that Apple is wrong here.
Pagan jim
The flip side of it is
Because Apple cannot go forward with their suit it cannot be proven if Kodak has infringed upon Apple's patent.
IMHO for Apple the easiest way to settle this is to just buy Kodak and be done with it.