Kodak Launches Patent Infringement Suits Against Apple and RIM

By Geoff Duncan January 14, 2010

BlackBerry-Bold-9700-5 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Another day, another patent infringement lawsuit: Eastman Kodak Company has filed lawsuits against both Apple and Canada’s Research in Motion, alleging that cameras in iPhones and BlackBerry devices violate a Kodak patent related to previewing images. Kodak is seeking to have federal regulators black import devices that infringe on the patents, but Kodak says it doesn’t want to disrupt sales of the devices, just be compensated for use of its technology.

“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,” said Kodak VP and chief intellectual property officer Laura G. Quatela, in a statement. “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.”

The new suits spring from Kodak’s recent patent settlement with Samsung, which stemmed from an ITC administrative law judge finding that a Kodak’s patent regarding color image preview was both valid and enforcible. The patent was also at the center of litigation between Kodak and Sun Microsystems back in 2004; in that case a federal jury found that Java had infringed on the patents.

“We remain open to negotiating a fair and amicable agreement with both Apple and RIM,” Quatela said.

Neither Apple nor RIM have yet responded publicly to the suits.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Mobile

Nomad’s new iPhone case and Apple Watch band may be its coolest yet

Nomad Glow 2.0 Sport Case and Apple Watch Sport Band in daylight.

Though the world of Apple accessories is a dime a dozen, one of the better brands that you can buy is Nomad. Nomad has a variety of amazing leather Apple Watch bands and cases, as well as non-leather options, too. In August 2023, Nomad released a one-of-a-kind Glow in the Dark Apple Watch band that sold out in about 12 hours.

Since that Glow in the Dark band was a limited edition, no one was sure if Nomad was going to re-release it, and this explains the high resale prices you’ll find on eBay. But Nomad just released the Glow 2.0 Apple Watch Sport Band as well as a new Glow 2.0 Sport Case for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. And, yes, they're just as wonderful as before.
The new and improved Glow 2.0

Mobile

An Apple insider just revealed how iOS 18’s AI features will work

An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying face-down outside, showing the Natural Titanium color.

As Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) inches closer, the chatter around the company’s AI work has taken a feverish turn. In a year when smartphone and computing brands have focused solely on AI niceties, Apple has been uncharacteristically silent around the AI hype — eliciting concern about the brand missing the train.

However, a new report has given us a closer look at how Apple's AI dreams may come to fruition with its iOS 18 update later this year.
New details on Apple's AI plans

Mobile

Here’s how Apple could change your iPhone forever

An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying on its back, showing its home screen.

Over the past few months, Apple has released a steady stream of research papers detailing its work with generative AI. So far, Apple has been tight-lipped about what exactly is cooking in its research labs, while rumors circulate that Apple is in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI for iPhones.

But there have been a couple of teasers of what we can expect. In February, an Apple research paper detailed an open-source model called MLLM-Guided Image Editing (MGIE) that is capable of media editing using natural language instructions from users. Now, another research paper on Ferret UI has sent the AI community into a frenzy.