ITC to look into Apple's call for Kodak trade ban
updated 05:55 pm EDT, Thu May 13, 2010
ITC agrees to see if Kodak violates Apple patents
The US International Trade Commission on Thursday agreed to investigate Apple's request for a trade ban on Kodak. The process will determine whether Kodak has violated multiple patents relating to imaging, memory and power, and if successful would ban some of Kodak's cameras from import into the US. Apple's mid-April complaint had singled out several EasyShare C, M and Z cameras, the Zi series pocket camcorders, as well as the PlaySport and Slice.
The complaint has already been accompanied by a civil suit. Both were launched in retaliation for Kodak's own lawsuit, which also included Research in Motion and claimed that both were violating photo software and general interface patents. Kodak has based an increasing amount of its recent business on licensing its camera technology to phone makers like LG and Motorola, and resorted to lawsuits after Apple and RIM alike wouldn't agree to its terms.
Many patent-related lawsuits now include ITC complaints, as the agency's faster resolution process and the threat of an outright sales ban often leads companies to settle their civil cases out of court.
