“Kodak fell as much as 8.6 percent in late trading after ITC Judge Paul Luckern said Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry device don’t violate Kodak’s patent for a camera image-preview feature,” Decker reports. “The administrative law judge’s findings, posted on the Washington-based agency’s website today, are subject to review by the six-member commission, which has the power to block imports of products that infringe U.S. patents.”
“The patent in the Apple and RIM case covers a feature that can preview low-resolution versions of a moving image while recording still images at a high resolution,” Decker reports. “Higher resolution requires more processing power and storage space. Rochester, New York-based Kodak contends the image-preview feature is used in every digital camera and phone with a camera.”
Decker reports, “Luckern said the patent is invalid because it’s an obvious variation of an earlier invention, and that the Apple and RIM products don’t infringe. The judge said if the commission overturns the ruling, he recommends an order barring entry of iPhone and BlackBerry devices that have digital cameras.”
“Apple and RIM have their own cases against Kodak. Apple filed a patent-infringement complaint at the ITC against Kodak, with a trial scheduled to begin Jan. 31 in Washington,” Decker reports. “RIM has a civil lawsuit in federal court in Texas challenging the validity of Kodak patents, including the one in the ITC case.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Just when we though Kodak couldn’t get any more irrelevant.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Lynn W.” for the heads up.]
now isn’t that special?
Kodak…I didn’t realize they were still around.
Kodak holds the patent for the CCD- the imaging sensor in ALL digital cameras from all manufacturers.
So much for irrelevance…
Let’s get something straight here. This NOT a commission ruling. The full commission has to rule on this, and it could be overturned. From my reading of this, it seems unlikely, but it is possible.
If it is, then the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the various BB’s that have cameras would be banned from import.
As I say, it’s not likely, but I’ve seen it happen before.
It ain’t over until it’s over.
Actually, Kodak makes the finest camera CCDs available, including a massive 48x36mm medium-format used by Hasselblad and NASA. Made in USA, even. Kodak is still very relevant.
No D-SLR’s today use the CCD, and many other cameras don’t either. And Kodak’s patents in that area are getting on in age.
Korai should just give it up and shut down…No one will miss them. It”s for them!!!
Sorry it”s late here ….Kodak (sp)
How formal of you.
Blaa.
melgross:
Even ‘if’ this were overturned it would have to be deemed irreparably harming to Kodak in order for Apple to be banned from import.
Ain’t gonna happen.
That would never happen if only for Kodak’s own admission that it has been trying to drum up royalties from its more than 1,000 digital-imaging patents to fund a shift to digital devices.
Second to that at this point in time, the actual banning of imports to the USA of Apple mobile products, in and of itself, would cause irreparable harm not only to Apple but to the entire economy of the USA…
Even though I don’t like to see Kodak doing what looks like to me like patent trolling, Kodak still is important. They still supply many motion pictures with film, make very good large sensors (that we used on CORALINE) among other things. Plus all those pre-digital family pictures you have you can thank Kodak (& others likeFuji). In fact long after those digital pic files have been lost to time due to poor storage, those film negatives will still be usable in that old shoe box.
I am getting ready to shoot an indie film and can’t wait to shoot some special Double Super 8mm Ektachrome film sequences in it. Film is really an amazing technology and digital in lots of ways is still catching up to it, especially in areas like dynamic range. That said I love digital technology too.
Kodak is still very relevant.
Kodak also makes excellent photo software for consumers and X-ray machines at the commercial level.
You know a company has fallen drastically when lawsuits are now treated as a “staple” business for the company:
Kodak has resorted to lawsuits as a form of business after it failed to transition quickly from film cameras to digital. […] The American camera maker has gone so far as to treat it as a staple business and hoped to make between $250 million and $350 million in lawsuit settlements and royalty payments between 2009 and the next few years.
Maybe try selling actual products? That people want to buy?
@ Gabriel
The irony of this side patent lawsuit business is when Polaroid sued Kodak many years ago when Kodak came out with their own instant film cameras infringing Polaroids patents. I did a stopmo commercial for the camera when they came out. Polaroid won and Kodak had to stop making them.
Funny how companies don’t often practice what they prey. Just a little bit disingenuous.
I like film companies, like Kodak, regardless of their commercial failings.
Film as a medium is superb, I can not find enough superlatives to describe the power that film has brought to society, culture and the development of humanity.
Kodak has played their part for over a hundred years, let’s see how Apple are fairing in 70 years, they have the inside running now, but who will be running the show then? and will they succeed in adopting the emerging tech.
KODAK –
1885 – George Eastman invented roll film, the basis for the invention of motion picture film, as used by early filmmakers and Thomas Edison.
1888 – George Eastman registered Kodak as a trademark and coined the phrase “You Press The Button and We Do The Rest.”
1900 – Brownie is introduced, leading to a new mass market.
1920 – Tennessee Eastman is founded as a wholly-owned subsidiary. The company’s primary purpose is the manufacture of chemicals, such as acetyls, needed for Kodak’s film photography products.
1930 – Eastman Kodak Company is added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company would remain listed as one of the DJIA companies for the next 74 years, ending in 2004.
1936 – Eastman Kodak introduces Kodachrome, the first 35mm color film.
1975 – The invention of the digital camera by Steven Sasson, then an electrical engineer at Eastman Kodak.
1976 – The Bayer Pattern color filter array (CFA) is invented by Eastman Kodak researcher Bryce Bayer.
1986 – Kodak scientists invented the world’s first megapixel sensor, capable of recording 1.4 million pixels, capable of producing a photo-quality 5×7 inch print.
1987 – First multi-layer OLEDs at the Kodak Research Laboratories, OLED displays comprise self-luminous pixels, which are thinner, clearer, and do not require power-consuming backlights as compared to LCD displays.
1994 – Eastman Chemical, a Kodak subsidiary founded by George Eastman to supply Kodak’s chemical needs, is spun off as a separate corporation. Eastman is now a Fortune 500 company in its own right.
2003 – Kodak EasyShare LS633 Digital Camera: The world’s first digital camera to feature a full-color, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display. The display measured 2.2 inches (56 mm) and had a 165° viewing angle. OLED technology was developed by Kodak. The retail price was $399 USD.
– Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock 6000: The world’s first printer-and-camera dock combination.
2004 – Eastman Kodak Company is removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average index on April 8, 2004; having been listed for the past 74 years.
2005 – Kodak EasyShare-One Digital Camera: The world’s first Wi-Fi consumer digital camera, and the world’s first camera that could e-mail pictures was unveiled at the January 2005 CES
2006 – Kodak EasyShare V570 Dual Lens Digital Camera: It was also the world’s smallest ultra-wide-angle optical zoom digital camera. The V570 wrapped an ultra-wide angle lens (23 mm) and a second optical zoom lens (39 – 117 mm) into a body less than an inch thick.
– Kodak EasyShare V610 Dual Lens Digital Camera: The world’s smallest 10× (38–380 mm) optical zoom camera at less than an inch thick.
2007 – June Kodak announced a two to fourfold increase in sensitivity to light (from one to two stops) compared to current sensor designs. This design is a departure from the classic “Bayer filter” by adding panchromatic, or “clear” pixels to the RGB elements on the sensor array. Since these pixels are sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light, they collect a significantly higher proportion of the light striking the sensor.
2008 – Kodak Graphic Communications wins the British Columbia Technology Industry Association Impact Award for Excellence in Product Innovation.
2009 – In January 2009, Kodak posted a $137 million fourth-quarter loss and announced plans to cut up to 4,500 jobs.
– 2009 – Eastman Kodak Co announced that it will retire Kodachrome color film by the end of 2009, ending its 74-year run after a dramatic decline in sales.
– 2009 – Eastman Kodak Co sold its Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) business unit to LG Electronics which resulted in the laying off of 60 people, which includes research engineers, technicians and interns.
2010 – In December 2010, Standard & Poor’s removed Kodak from its S&P 500 index.
… Wikipedia – (edited for this post)
Don’t forget the QuickTake (if anyone remembers). Built by Kodak, branded and sold by Apple in 1994 for around $700. The first personal digital camera. I still have one with original box and software. It might be worth something in about a hundred years.
Perhaps Apple should buy Kodak? Just joking…I still think that Nvidia should be first on Apple’s acquisition list to protect and evolve high-end graphics for Macs. After all, ATi is owned by AMD and Intel isn’t doing Apple any favors on the graphics front and appears to be focused on Windows DirectX and such.
That Wikipedia entry reads like it was written by a Kodak shill. It fails to mention that George Eastman learned how to make dry plates at Kilborn Photo in Cedar Rapids, Iowa before moving to the east coast, and that he almost went out of business early on when he got cheap and coated emulsions made with cheaper gelatin that resulted in them being insensitive to light. The saying, “If cows did not eat mustard grass, there would be no photography” came out of that misadventure.
Kodak reminds me of Microsoft, inasmuch as how they were able to secure monopolies with their color film and paper processes, but never developed stable dyes, even after Fuji showed them up with their film and paper, and using Kodak’s processing. Color negatives and film made by Kodak fade very quickly. You can read all about it in Henry Wilhelm’s “The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs” available as a free download on wilhelm-research.com – Kodak’s reaction to Henry’s research was to try to discredit him instead of improving their film.
Back in the 90s I had a working relationship with Kodak engineers. I asked them what they were planning to do about the coming digital tsunami. They said management had decided to ignore it and hope it goes away.
@ @skylark
Yea it does sound like a sales flyer but he was just making a list of achievements by Kodak for the youngsters.
None of it is false, just no negative items.
I will agree about the Fuji film. Sometime in college I tried Fuji film and just about died when I saw the color difference. Shot with only Fuji after that.
If they have the patent they should get money.