Kodak Wins Initial Ruling in Patent Countersuit by Apple

[MacRumors]

Bloomberg reports that Eastman Kodak has achieved a victory with an initial ruling from a U.S. International Trade Commission judge stating that the company has not infringed two Apple patents cited in a lawsuit filed last year. That lawsuit by Apple was initiated in response to a patent lawsuit by Kodak filed several months earlier.

Neither of the two patents in Apple's case before the ITC were being infringed, and one of the patents is invalid, Judge Robert Rogers in Washington said yesterday. The judge's findings are subject to review by the six-member ITC, which has the power to block imports of products that infringe U.S. patents.

A similar initial determination in Kodak's case against Apple and Research in Motion ruled against Kodak in January, but the broader ITC panel decided to reexamine the case, breathing new life into Kodak's efforts to extract as much as $1 billion in licensing fees from Apple and Research in Motion.

Article Link: Kodak Wins Initial Ruling in Patent Countersuit by Apple

 

[devilstrider]

HAHA. Thought they were going to get a quick easy buck.

 

[Small White Car]

Man, I love Apple and all, but it's funny that they think they can somehow beat the inventors of the digital camera in such a way that Apple comes out completely on top.

I know this legal stuff involves a lot of give and take and there's never a total winner, but surely Kodak's got the upper hand in this particular fight, yeah?

 

[dustinsc]

These suits are all about companies pressuring each other into licensing agreements. We need patent reform to make the whole process more transparent and to make patents more specific, because this wastes a lot of money on legal fees.

 

[Full of Win]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Funny, looks like Apple got their a-- handed to them.

 

[skottichan]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Funny, looks like Apple got their a-- handed to them.

*pssst* I think you missed the part of the article where it mentioned Kodak "getting their ass handed to them" in January. Kodak started the fight, Apple counter fired, and it's looking more and more like a zero-sum game, where Apple and RIM will not have to pay licensing fees.

 

[dethmaShine]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Funny, looks like Apple got their a-- handed to them.

Apple's ass?

So creative you are!

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

With a market cap of ~700 million, Apple should just buy Kodak.

 

[Durendal]

Good. This should happen more often in the tech world. The patent system has been warped and destroyed by this kind of corporate crapola.

 

[weespeed]

*pssst* I think you missed the part of the article where it mentioned Kodak "getting their ass handed to them" in January. Kodak started the fight, Apple counter fired, and it's looking more and more like a zero-sum game, where Apple and RIM will not have to pay licensing fees.

No. The ruling to determine if Apple and RIM owe Kodak money is in September. They are re-examining the ruling against Kodak. I suspect because Samsung and LG already are paying Kodak royalties now.

Apple lost their counter-suit and now one of their patents have been found to be invalid. This is actually bad news for Apple regarding this patent suit.

 

[Consultant]

Man, I love Apple and all, but it's funny that they think they can somehow beat the inventors of the digital camera in such a way that Apple comes out completely on top.

I know this legal stuff involves a lot of give and take and there's never a total winner, but surely Kodak's got the upper hand in this particular fight, yeah?

Apple's first digital camera was built by kodak though. Second was built by Fuji.

Kodak didn't care about the digital camera market until it's too late.

The question is, how much Apple engineering went into them?

 

[ciTiger]

1 Billion is a whole lot of money!

 

[Consultant]

With a market cap of ~700 million, Apple should just buy Kodak.

Or Apple can simply bury and sufficate them with the Apple cash stockpile.

 

[louis Fashion]

I wonder how much share holder money could be saved by NOT going forward with all these suits and countersuits? Less money for lawyers equals more money for R and D....etc.....

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Or Apple can simply bury and sufficate them with the Apple cash stockpile.

If they buy Kodak then they would own their IP and could get money out of their competition like the mentioned RIM.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Or Apple can simply bury and sufficate them with the Apple cash stockpile.

You mean the cash stockpile they have that's overseas and don't want to spend because of taxes?

 

[skottichan]

No. The ruling to determine if Apple and RIM owe Kodak money is in September. They are re-examining the ruling against Kodak. I suspect because Samsung and LG already are paying Kodak royalties now.

Apple lost their counter-suit and now one of their patents have been found to be invalid. This is actually bad news for Apple regarding this patent suit.

But, as I was pointing out, they (the ITC) already ruled against Kodak. That Kodak's patent suit was invalid and not infringed.

Eastman Kodak yesterday announced that it has received an initial determination from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) rejecting its claims of patent infringement made against Apple and Research in Motion last year in relation to digital camera technology. In its decision, the ITC held the patent claim in question as invalid and thus not infringed.

While yes, having a patent invalidated is a blow to Apple, but in the grand scheme, this means less money put out.

 

[lilo777]

Or Apple can simply bury and sufficate them with the Apple cash stockpile.

Or for once they could just pay people for inventing stuff.

 

[weespeed]

But, as I was pointing out, they (the ITC) already ruled against Kodak. That Kodak's patent suit was invalid and not infringed.

They are re-examining that ruling. In other words, they might still find in favor of Kodak and Apple and RIM will have to pay royalties.

In other words, the whole ITC panel, said maybe the judge is wrong when he/she ruled in favor of Apple. We will look at the claims again and either uphold the judges decision or overturn it. That will be determined in September.

 

[lilo777]

So, have Apple ever won a patent suit? Or are all of their patents just bogus and never stand a chance in real trials?

 

[weespeed]

So, have Apple ever won a patent suit? Or are all of their patents just bogus and never stand a chance in real trials?

They won the cover-flow and time machine one.
The judge said the patents are valid, but Apple didn't infringe as a matter of law.

 

[lilo777]

They won the cover-flow and time machine one.
The judge said the patents are valid, but Apple didn't infringe as a matter of law.

Yes, but those valid patents were not the Apple patents. I am asking if Apple ever sued anyone for infringing on their own patents and won?

 

[weespeed]

Yes, but those valid patents were not the Apple patents. I am asking if Apple ever sued anyone for infringing on their own patents and won?

Oh sorry, mis-read that.

 

[HyperZboy]

*pssst* I think you missed the part of the article where it mentioned Kodak "getting their ass handed to them" in January. Kodak started the fight, Apple counter fired, and it's looking more and more like a zero-sum game, where Apple and RIM will not have to pay licensing fees.

Other companies have already settled and paid Kodak, so the precedent set suggests that Apple & RIM will ultimately have to pay too.

Neither company invented hardly anything related to digital camera technology.
Hell, Apple actually SOLD Kodak digital cameras for a time under the Apple brand name! HAHA!

Ultimately this will be settled in Kodak's favor and probably a lower amount of money than Kodak initially wanted and all will be well in the world and we can move on with our lives.

Oh, and Apple should definitely buy Kodak and their huge patent collection and then collect royalties from all of their competitors. That would be ingenious and very Steve Jobs-like.

 

[*LTD*]

So what. No effect to Apple. Everything that is critical, Apple already has rights to.