Eastman Kodak Company is back to whip Apple with a patent infringement case, but this time it has filed a lawsuit against HTC Corporation too. The company alleged that Apple and HTC had infringed certain Kodak patents relating to digital imaging technology.
The complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) claims specifically that certain of Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and iPods, and certain of HTC’s smartphones and tablets infringe Kodak patents that relate to technology for transmitting images.
Apple’s case might not come in as a surprise to anyone, as Kodak has been trying to push their claim against the company for quite some time now, but HTC is Kodak’s latest prey. Kodak alleged that a number of HTC’s smartphones infringe a patent that covers technology related to a method for previewing images. Interestingly, the same patent conflict is even filed against Apple, which is just one of the patents, filed against the Tech Giant, Apple.
Another similarity in the patent issues for Apple and HTC, is that Kodak has filed a case against the two companies in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York
Laura G. Quatela, President and Chief Operating Officer, Eastman Kodak Company said, “As we have stated before, Kodak is the leader in digital imaging innovation and we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars creating our pioneering patent portfolio.” The representative continued, “We’ve had numerous discussions with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement.”
Quatela even had a point to make on the fairness that needs to be addressed, as she said, “Our primary interest is not to disrupt the availability of any product but to obtain fair compensation for the unauthorized use of our technology… There’s a basic issue of fairness that needs to be addressed. The failure of companies to appropriately compensate Kodak for the unauthorized use of our patented technology impedes our ability to continue to innovate and introduce new products.”
Other device manufacturers have worked a contract with Kodak and accordingly, are using licensed patents related to digital imaging technology. The count for the same includes more than 30 companies, including such leading mobile-device companies as LG, Motorola, Samsung and Nokia, all of which are royalty bearing to Kodak.
Timothy M. Lynch, Chief Intellectual Property Officer, said, “We remain open to negotiating a fair and amicable agreement with these companies, which has always been our preference and our practice with other licensees,” He added, “We seek to avoid litigation in our licensing programs whenever possible. But when the infringement is persistent, we will act to defend the interests of our shareholders and licensees, and to promote the fair compensation that is the bedrock of innovation.”
Noting the infringed list, following are the patents that stand against Apple and HTC:
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U.S. Patent No. 7,210,161 – “Automatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Camera to a Service Provider Using a Network Configuration File”
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U.S. Patent No. 7,742,084 – “Network Configuration File for Automatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Still Camera”
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U.S. Patent No. 7,453,605 – “Capturing Digital Images to be Transferred to an E-Mail Address”
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U.S. Patent No. 7,936,391 – “Digital Camera with Communications Interface for Selectively Transmitting Images over a Cellular Phone Network and a Wireless LAN Network to a Destination”
HTC had an extra claim against itself, as noted that it had infringed the U.S. Patent No. 6,292,218 (“Electronic Camera for Initiating Capture of Still Images While Previewing Motion Images”) too.
For further details related to Kodak and Apple’s case, one can go here.