Mixed verdict issued in Kodak patent case

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This article was published 02/07/2011 (5439 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The U.S. International Trade Commission issued a mixed verdict Thursday in Eastman Kodak Co.’s high-stakes patent-infringement dispute with the makers of the iPhone and BlackBerry phones. The ruling disappointed investors.

The trade-dispute arbiter in Washington, D.C., said it is essentially agreeing with one of its judges, who threw out the photography pioneer’s claims.

The federal agency did find limited patent infringement. It also sent some matters back to the judge for further review, and Kodak could still prevail in the remaining claims.

Kodak’s stock fell 16 per cent.

“This is a negative for Kodak because they didn’t win,” said analyst Shannon Cross of Cross Research in Livingston, N.J.

Although there’s a chance Kodak could prevail on remaining matters, she said, “It seems like the chances that you’d get a large settlement are much smaller.”

Chief executive Antonio Perez had hoped Kodak could draw up to $1 billion from its deep-pocketed rivals.

Kodak is “gratified that the commission has decided to modify in our favour the judge’s initial recommendation,” said Laura Quatela, Kodak’s chief intellectual property officer. “As we have said from the start, we remain extremely confident this case will ultimately conclude in Kodak’s favour.”

Apple and RIM did not return calls or email messages seeking comment.

Kodak, a 131-year-old photography pioneer based in Rochester, N.Y., argued that image-preview technology it patented in 2001 was infringed by iPhone maker Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. of Waterloo, Canada.

The ruling came after the stock market closed. Kodak’s stock fell 56 cents to $3.02 in after-market trading.

 

— The Associated Press