Kodak Files Patent Infringement Suits Against Apple, Research in Motion

[Thex1138]

No Worries

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According fo the article, 30 companies already have licencing deals with Kodak regarding the patent.

As they pay Kodak already, they can use it.

This isn't some vendetta against Apple.

Thanks guys, I figured this was the patent issue, I know it's just them exercising their rights of course, not a vendetta...

 

[cmaier]

Man, I hate when Canadian locations are quoted as "province, Canada" but U.S. ones are "city, state". As if Canada is so small, provinces are equivalent to U.S. cities. Ontario is 2.5x bigger than California!

But most of it is populated only by eskimos and otters.

 

[rjohnstone]

Man, I hate when Canadian locations are quoted as "province, Canada" but U.S. ones are "city, state". As if Canada is so small, provinces are equivalent to U.S. cities. Ontario is 2.5x bigger than California!

True, but there are more people living just in the LA metro area (18 Mil) than all of Ontario (13 Mil).
So that's like a city. sort of.

Just teasing.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Man, I hate when Canadian locations are quoted as "province, Canada" but U.S. ones are "city, state". As if Canada is so small, provinces are equivalent to U.S. cities. Ontario is 2.5x bigger than California!

could be how the filing system in Cananda works. There you file your company with your provence. In the U.S.you file with the cities. That could be the reasoning.

 

[dejo]

could be how the filing system in Cananda works.

I think it's more than just filing though. Seems more widespread. I see it in the news all the time. Anyways, just a personal peeve of mine (being a Canadian living in the US).

 

[accumulator]

Oh, Canada

Man, I hate when Canadian locations are quoted as "province, Canada" but U.S. ones are "city, state". As if Canada is so small, provinces are equivalent to U.S. cities. Ontario is 2.5x bigger than California!

Yes, I love the fact that Ontario road maps are two-sided - the first side being where all the people live, and the back side being the rest of the province. The back side of the map marked important infrastructure facilities such as, for example, telephones.

I know people who introduced themselves as being from "the back side of the map".

 

[doctor-don]

Kodak missed the chance to sell a 14MP camera in 2005 - DCS Pro 14n. It produced excellent images but was too slow to be desirous by the professionals.

 

[ildondeigiocchi]

Can't compete? Last time I checked Kodak doesn't make a smart phone or webcams. They do however make camera technology, which apple has apparently stolen.

In my opinion this is a very dumb lawsuit to say the least. Seems Kodak needs a little extra pocket cash However if they would have to sue everyone who breached or infringed upon their patent then this would include every single smartphone on the market. Seems highly unlikely to me that Kodak will win this suit... but hey anything is possible.

 

[doctor-don]

could be how the filing system in Cananda works. There you file your company with your provence. In the U.S.you file with the cities. That could be the reasoning.

Ridiculous!

It's the progression from country to the next smaller geopolitical division. In Canada, a province is the equivalent of a state in the US of A.

 

[joelypolly]

everybody calm down

This is being blown way out of proportions. It's all very simple.
Kodak sued Samsung over the patents, Samsung counter sued, Apple/RIM probably felt that patents were invalid and/or too broad and decided to wait on the result of the case.
Now that the courts have validated Kodak they have legal precedence to sue other companies for a lot of money and/or past royalties. Apple/RIM will either decide to pay now or come to some sort of agreement.

A single device these days may contain thousands of patents, you can't just pay everyone who makes a claim on owning a part of your device. Most of these have to be negotiated or settled with court cases or under the treat of a court case. It seems these days it's standard business practices.

 

[zacman]

I'm sure Apple will counter-sue with some years old patents that nobody is even interested in and tell the court that they really wanted to license the Kodak IP, just Kodak didn't want to give them fair, reasonable and non discriminatory terms...

But hey, we all know Apple: "Good artists copy, great artists steal."

 

[cmaier]

This is being blown way out of proportions. It's all very simple.
Kodak sued Samsung over the patents, Samsung counter sued, Apple/RIM probably felt that patents were invalid and/or too broad and decided to wait on the result of the case.
Now that the courts have validated Kodak they have legal precedence to sue other companies for a lot of money and/or past royalties. Apple/RIM will either decide to pay now or come to some sort of agreement.

Simple, but wrong. The Samsung case was not heard by the courts - it was dealt with by the ITC. Also, we don't even know if the case involves the same patent - the Apple case seems to involve multiple patents, unlike the Samsung case (still not clear on this, though).

Also, there is no such thing as "too broad." The patent is either valid or not, and it is either enforceable or not (those are two different legal issues). "Too broad" is not a defense.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Ridiculous!

It's the progression from country to the next smaller geopolitical division. In Canada, a province is the equivalent of a state in the US of A.

I went with my best guess on why based on the fact that it was the filing listed it as city state and Provence, country. I do not know how companies are registered in that country. In the US it is handled on the city level.

In my opinion this is a very dumb lawsuit to say the least. Seems Kodak needs a little extra pocket cash However if they would have to sue everyone who breached or infringed upon their patent then this would include every single smartphone on the market. Seems highly unlikely to me that Kodak will win this suit... but hey anything is possible.

I am pretty sure the others all have payed up the funds. LG, Sony, Samsung ect I believe all make digital cameras so chances they do pay up.

They have a list of 30 other companies that are paying up and since they are not trying to shut down apple on it looks even more like they just want the money that is rightful theirs.

 

[SandynJosh]

Kodak's suing of Apple and RIM and not all the other possible manufacturers is pretty standard when there are multiple companies who are possible targets. If Kodak can make their case with Apple and RIM, then all the other potential targets will fall in line.

 

[cmaier]

Kodak's suing of Apple and RIM and not all the other possible manufacturers is pretty standard when there are multiple companies who are possible targets. If Kodak can make their case with Apple and RIM, then all the other potential targets will fall in line.

It's also quite common to go offer licenses for some small amount of money to 30 companies just so you can say "everyone else licenses it" to the jury when you go try to get the BIG money from the big pockets.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

It's also quite common to go offer licenses for some small amount of money to 30 companies just so you can say "everyone else licenses it" to the jury when you go try to get the BIG money from the big pockets.

but how do you argue it when Sony, LG and Samsung and some other big names I believe on among those 30.

Those guys would have much bigger pockets big time much bigger than Rim.
I also willing to bet Nokia is on the list of 30 and those pockets are by far larger than at least rim. Combine those are a hell of a lot larger than RIM and Apple combined.

 

[cmaier]

but how do you argue it when Sony, LG and Samsung and some other big names I believe on among those 30.

You have to be wrong, because Kodak just beat Samsung in the ITC. If Samsung was a licensee (prior to that) there would have been no ITC action.

Further, as a patent attorney, I've frequently seen a patent holder give sweetheart deals to asian companies (who are more litigation-averse), typically at a cost far far less than litigation. Then they go after the big U.S. firms.

 

[lightpeak]

They can't compete with Apple so they sue instead.

So in fair turn, every single time Apple sues someone it's Apple not being able to compete against them, so they sue them.

God, you fanboys literally sicken me and actually enrage me. Absolutely no objective from Apple fanatics. Always a one-way street when it comes to suing.

 

[Golem]

I find it bizarre that so many people take this suit personally. It's just business.

Legally Kodak must defend its patent for it to remain valid. That means it has no choice but to file this suit. But this suit is not about jumping on the Apple or RIM money train. If you read the linked press release here is why Kodak is going forward with the suit:


If Kodak does not defend its patent then its licensing agreements it has with every other company regarding this technology is in jeopardy of becoming invalid, and then we are talking big bucks.

Totally untrue. Trademarks need to be defended or lost. Patents? you can sit on a patent and do nothing for 19 years and then sue everybody. If Kodak do not get Apple to licence their Patent the only side effect is the next person they go for may well stand up to them as well.

Now in the case with Nokia it looks like Nokia were asking for more then what Apply are willing to give.

I have no idea who is in the "right" here but their have been far too many overbroad vague software patents granted in the last couple of decades. Just because 30 companies have said, hmm pay a licence fee or risk a lawsuit that will cost 100x that, lets pay the money. Apple may have a precendent or some prior artwork/patents that means they have a good chance.

 

[*LTD*]

So in fair turn, every single time Apple sues someone it's Apple not being able to compete against them, so they sue them.

I can't in recent memory recall when this was ever the case. Apple is the one setting the bar.

 

[Golem]

Wait, if the DC was made in 1985 doesn't that mean the related patents are now public domain?

The patent is about the previewing of colour images in different resolutions. Regardless you can extend the initial ideas with extensions and get new patents, Look at microsoft and the continuing patent battles over how to extend a file name past 8 characters in the dos filesytem.

 

[batchtaster]

The recent Pystar case is a great example. They were making something Apple refuses to make (a small affordable/expandable desktop). Instead of competing with their own desktop product, Apple sued them.

Totally not the same thing, and you know it.

It's like Great Wall Motors making a new class of car that's equipped with stolen Ford seats, Ford steering wheels, Ford car-mats, Ford SYNC systems, badge and all. They can ask, but when Ford says phuk off, they are not entitled to do it anyway. They have zero standing to insist that they have some kind of right to do so, as they have no claim whatsoever, not even sub-licensing it. And claims of "well, Ford refuses to make a car in this class, so we're filling the hole" is a big pile of horse siht. They are NOT entitled to try and "coerse" Ford into any particular segment just because you (singularly) want one of these things that they don't happen to make. Ford owns their brand. Phuk off and buy one from another company, someone who does make one in that class.

 

[iDisk]

Going back to my 'Apple Zealots' comment, heres where it holds true to an awesome degree:

Creative sues Apple, and the Apple Zealots go into a fit of rage:

Link:
https://www.macrumors.com/2006/05/15/creative-sues-apple-seeks-injunction/

Apple then counter-sues Creative, and the Apple Zealots rejoice:

Link: https://www.macrumors.com/2006/05/19/creative-lawsuit-update-apple-sues-creative/

Dude you rock! I literally laughed when I viewed this... This clearly shows the biased views lol even-though we are in a Apple forum so this is to be expected .... But great post man

 

[batchtaster]

Dude you rock! I literally laughed when I viewed this... This clearly shows the biased views lol even-though we are in a Apple forum so this is to be expected .... But great post man

So what you're saying is that either all the claims are clearly valid, or all are clearly invalid. That there is nothing at all ever to suggest that any of these claims are recreational and ridiculous, or that any are obvious ripoffs.

So, clearly, it's fanboyism alone and nothing else. Ever.

How confident for such as sweeping generalization based solely on two screenshots.

Have you considered the notion you should compare the forum sentiments against both the outcome of the actual court cases and the instances of Apple being defendant or plaintiff before leaping to such a judgement? Because there is entirely the possibility that the "fanboys" were, shock and horror, right? Just because you're loud and annoying doesn't mean you're wrong.

 

[ChazUK]

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but how do you argue it when Sony, LG and Samsung and some other big names I believe on among those 30.

You have to be wrong, because Kodak just beat Samsung in the ITC. If Samsung was a licensee (prior to that) there would have been no ITC action.

Further, as a patent attorney, I've frequently seen a patent holder give sweetheart deals to asian companies (who are more litigation-averse), typically at a cost far far less than litigation. Then they go after the big U.S. firms.

If that is the case, surely it's their fault for not making a deal before the Samsung ruling?

If they were in negotiations before the Samsung case was finished and thought, "sod it, we may not have to pay a thing if Kodak loses" then its their fault that they are now both left open to extortionate charges.

We don't even know what Kodak are asking for anyway.

(Just for clarification, I wouldn't agree with Kodak if they are now trying to rip Apple and RIM off now )