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Apple wants to sue bankrupt Kodak

by on16 February 2012



Hoping to snap up a court victory while the other side is down


Apple is hoping to squeeze a quick court victory while its rivals Kodak are in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Jobs' Mob has asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to sue Eastman Kodak over allegations it’s infringing patents that Apple says cover technologies used in printers, digital cameras and digital picture frames. Apple told the court that it intends to file a complaint against Kodak at the International Trade Commission and a corresponding suit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan based on patent-infringement claims. The suit will seek an order blocking Kodak’s infringement, according to the filing.

Apple thinks that it is the true owner of the image-preview patent that is the subject of infringement claims lodged against Apple and Research in Motion.  Apple claims that it developed a digital camera in the early 1990s that it shared with Kodak, and that Kodak then sought the patent on the technology. Kodak has denied the allegations. In fact before it went into receivership Kodak was close to mounting a patent infringement case of its own against Apple.

In a statement Kodak said Apple should not be using the bankruptcy to seek to disrupt Kodak’s enforcement of its patents given that infringers like Apple, who continue to violate Kodak’s intellectual property rights and refuse to properly compensate it, have contributed to Kodak’s current circumstances.

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