Kodak sues Apple for obstructing patent sales

A New York judge has denied Kodak’s petition to dismiss Apple’s and spinoff Flashpoint Technology’s claim over ten patents. Kodak may, however, sell the patents under certain conditions.

Troubled Kodak filed a petition with the US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to preempt Apple’s claim to the patents in question, but Judge Allan L. Gropper denied that request. However, Kodak may already put the patents up for sale as part of a larger patent portfolio.

Kodak must then inform potential buyers that Apple and Flashpoint Technology have a claim on the ten patents concerned. The latter is a former subsidiary of Apple that was spun off in 1996. Another option when selling the patent portfolio is to place a certain amount for the claimed patents in a so-called escrow account. If the rightful owner sells the patents at a later date to be determined by the court, then the secured amount can be transferred there.

Apple argued that granting Kodak’s request by the US Bankruptcy Court would adversely affect another lawsuit involving Apple and Kodak. Kodak has sued Apple and RIM, among others, for violation of the relevant patents, but had to take a loss on May 21 because a patent was declared invalid.

The ten patents claimed by Apple include technology for capturing photos and previewing them simultaneously on the LCD of a mobile device. Kodak and Apple are said to have conducted research into this together in the 1990s.

The patents in question are crucial for Kodak because the company uses them in lawsuits against Apple and RIM, among others, but Samsung has also called on Kodak’s lawyers for this. Kodak wants to sell the patents as part of a much larger patent portfolio in order to raise money to get out of the Chapter 11 settlement. Kodak says it wants to focus on the printer market.