Kodak Sues Apple and Blackberry Maker, RIM

[JMcEntegart]

Eastman Kodak has filed lawsuits against Apple and RIM, claiming both companies are infringing upon digital imaging patents owned by Kodak.

Kodak Sues Apple and Blackberry Maker, RIM : Read more

 

[DjEaZy]

... nokia had some issues with apple, now kodak... who next?

 

[mfarrukh]

Apple's in trouble
First NOKIA, now KODAK

 

[Jazzmain]

looks like the new get rich scheme is to buy patents. Looks like I know what my tax return investments are going into.

 

[NapoleonDK]

Successful patent troll is successful.

 

[Montezuma]

You have got to love these patent lawsuits. Yeah, let us inhibit progress even more because you expect someone else to pay you for their hard work. I believe that copyrights and patents should last for 15 years, at the absolute max, for technology. There should be a 5 year patent and copyright length, maximum, for medications, but also have that 5 years start after the FDA finishes dragging its damned feet.

No renewals, to tag-backs, do not pass go, you lose the right to claim something as private after a certain length of time when you initially released it to the world. Now, there could be one small exception: Perhaps we could allow for a patent fee past the five or 15 year mark, adding 5 more years. This patent fee could not exceed, let's say, $2USD or something close to that.

We need to work on new products, not continue to rehash the same, old bullshit. There are too many manufacturers that are simply adding small extras, many that should have been in from the start, and essentially attempting to bait customers into purchasing the same product all over again(hello PSP, iPhone, and many others).

 

[rallende]

[citation][nom]NapoleonDK[/nom]Successful patent troll is successful.[/citation]

Kodak actually sells digital cameras, so as long as they are not just sitting on a idea but actually implementing them, I can agree with the lawsuit. It still gets annoying when lawsuits are flying because someone patents "typing on a keyboard that connects to devices via usb" but doesn't actually make /design keyboards or usb devices.

 

[JMcEntegart]

[citation][nom]NapoleonDK[/nom]Successful patent troll is successful.[/citation]

Well, if Kodak already licensing out the technology to numerous other companies with camera phones, settled with LG over the same issue and won a battle against Samsung when they refused to settle, I think it's less trolling and more "Pay us for the technology that's rightfully ours, everyone else has to."

 

[deadlockedworld]

Its funny how these lawsuits always come up AFTER the products have made billions of dollars... never before.

 

[Computer_Lots]

Some guy patented using a detachable USB cable on a keyboard. My company has been trying for some time to get around this with no real success. It's ridiculous. We don't even sell keyboards we just want to produce them for our own use and cannot because of this patent. Crap like this should be illegal.

 

[zak_mckraken]

When will it end!??! Oh, yes, that's right, December 21, 2012.

 

[Pei-chen]

[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]Well, if Kodak already licensing out the technology to numerous other companies with camera phones, settled with LG over the same issue and won a battle against Samsung when they refused to settle, I think it's less trolling and more "Pay us for the technology that's rightfully ours, everyone else has to."[/citation]
It is just cheaper for Nokia, Sony, Ericsson and Motorola to pay Kodak than fighting them in court. The amount they ask are likely to be pretty tiny consider how small a company Kodak is now.

The big boys in digital imaging aren't being sued so I guess this patent only applies to cellphone and how an "application calling on others to help it complete a task" (having the number pad double duty as buttons?)

 

[Kelavarus]

Aye, as said, this is Kodak we're talking about. Looooong time in the camera and lens business for them, so this isn't really some minor issue, or an unused patent. As said in the article, they receive royalties from other phone companies, why should Apple or RIM get away with it?

 

[pocketdrummer]

The patent system needs to die. It's utterly destroying innovation. Just because one dude thought up the idea, that doesn't mean they're the best for the job. In fact, most times other companies can make better use of the patent.

 

[apmyhr]

[citation][nom]deadlockedworld[/nom]Its funny how these lawsuits always come up AFTER the products have made billions of dollars... never before.[/citation]
If you were Kodak, would you waste millions of dollars in lawyer and court fees to sue some small garage shop that hasn't even made a profit off your technology yet?

I hate patent trolls a hell of a lot, but I don't think this fits that case. Kodak actually uses the technology they have patented, and other companies are currently paying them licensing fees. So it seems to me their law suit might be legit.

 

[intelliclint]

The problem is the way patients are worded and issued. The way the artical reads..
"A second lawsuit, filed with the same court, claims Apple's array of Macs and other devices infringe a separate Kodak patent detailing a method by which one application can call upon other apps to help it complete a task."
...well that describes most app plug-ins. These ideas should not have beeen patients but more along the lines of copywrites. Mostly because Kodak was not the creater of apps to help otehr apps so they shouldn't be able to hold a patient on it, but they can hold the rights for apps that help their app.

 

[apmyhr]

[citation][nom]pocketdrummer[/nom]The patent system needs to die. It's utterly destroying innovation. Just because one dude thought up the idea, that doesn't mean they're the best for the job. In fact, most times other companies can make better use of the patent.[/citation]
Are you serious? If we adopted your well thought out plan, please tell me what company would bother spending billions of dollars in R&D when they know their competitors can just copy their results in the end?

 

[B-Unit]

[citation][nom]pocketdrummer[/nom]The patent system needs to die. It's utterly destroying innovation. Just because one dude thought up the idea, that doesn't mean they're the best for the job. In fact, most times other companies can make better use of the patent.[/citation]

You must be an Apple fanboy. How does using someone else's idea count as 'innovation'? By definition, innovation has to be something not seen before.

 

[Guest]

Some of you you are utter morons have don't really have any idea what would happen if people couldn't protect their investments.

The system needs reform yes, but the minute you remove the protection, innovation will cease.

Do you know it cost close to a billion to bring a new medicine to market. Now who the hell will spend that kind of money on reseach and testing when a week later someone can copy it and under cut you. Same goes for any tech.

 

[d_kuhn]

I know most people think of Kodak in relatin to old film camera's, they have a very sucessful digital imaging business - they're also VERY innovative and have a lot of IP in that arena. They have a lot of very high end (military use) imaging tech.

They're definitely NOT patent trolls.