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Patent wars: Kodak sues Apple, RIM for patent infringement

Updated: Eastman Kodak said Thursday that it has filed lawsuits against both Apple and Research in Motion over digital imaging patents.Kodak launched its lawsuits on two fronts.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Updated: Eastman Kodak said Thursday that it has filed lawsuits against both Apple and Research in Motion over digital imaging patents.

Kodak launched its lawsuits on two fronts. Kodak filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission arguing that Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry infringe Kodak technology for previewing images.

Separately, Kodak filed two lawsuits against Apple in a U.S. District Court claiming that Apple infringed on patents related to digital cameras and computer processes.

In a statement, Kodak said:

In the case of Apple and RIM, we’ve had discussions for years with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement. In light of that, we are taking this action to ensure that we protect the interests of our shareholders and the existing licensees of our technology.

Update: Here's the download of the Kodak ITC complaint (PDF). I'll update with the U.S. District Court complaints shortly.

Kodak added that LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson are all paying royalties to the company for its intellectual property.

In one suit against Apple, Kodak alleges that Apple is infringing on two patents covering image preview and the processing of images of different resolutions. The second suit is focused on technology that allows one application to ask another program for help completing a computing task. The second suit revolves around the same technology that Kodak sued Sun Microsystems over in 2004. A jury ruled for Kodak and Sun licensed the technology.

Apple is finding itself in a few high-profile patent lawsuits. Also see:

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