RIM and Apple have just won another round against Kodak. For the last two years Kodak has claimed that RIM violated their patent for viewing images on a digital camera after taking them. The United States International Trade Commission released their preliminary findings on their website today (PDF). Essentially the judge (not the full commission) has ruled that RIM and Apple have violated Kodak’s patent BUT they also ruled that the patent is invalid “due to obviousness.” Kodak will obviously appeal this since they lost this round but here is the current rundown from the ITC:
Conclusions of Law
- The accused Apple iPhone 3G infringes claim 15 of the ‘218 patent.
- The accused Apple iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 do not infringe claim 15 of the ‘218
patent. - The accused RIM products infringe claim 15 of the ‘218 patent.
- Claim 15 of the ‘218 patent is invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 103 for obviousness.
- Apple has not violated 19 U.S.C. § 1337(a)(1) with respect to the ‘218 patent.
- RIM has not violated 19 U.S.C. § 1337(a)(1) with respect to the ‘218 patent.
Isn’t it nice when judges see common sense?
Thanks Peter for sending this one in via CNET
Diego Nei, MBA ( View Profile) - Posts: 267
Posted: May 21, 2012 at 3:04 PM EST
uh.. CrackBerry says the very opposite… I’m confused…
Berry 7 ( View Profile) - Posts: 143
Posted: May 21, 2012 at 3:33 PM EST from my BlackBerry 9930 | OS 7.1.0.267
Here’s what the Crackberry site says:
The ALJ concluded that the Apple iPhone 3G and the accused RIM BlackBerry devices infringe Kodak’s patent, although his recommendation is that the patent claim is invalid.
Ronen Halevy ( View Profile) - Posts: 3325
Posted: May 21, 2012 at 3:41 PM EST
Our buddies at CrackBerry jumped the gun a bit and only posted Kodak’s press released that tried to put a positive spin on their loss. In short Kodak won a small battle in the ruling stating that RIM and Apple are violating their patent but they lost the war because that same judge ruled that their patent was invalid. Kodak still has a chance to make their case to the full ITC Commission but chances are they will lose yet again…
See all the other article about this on Google News to get an idea of what I mean:
https://www.google.com/search?aq=f&q=kodak+RIM
Ashley ( View Profile) - Posts: 1007
Posted: May 21, 2012 at 3:25 PM EST from my BlackBerry 9900 | OS 7.1.0.284
#w00t patent trolling has gone too far… I’m glad to see the ppl in charge of sorting these rulings out see the pointlessness of most of these cases… It’s getting to the point where these claims are just wasting time / taking up court space they should start penalizing for filing suits of such frivilous nature…. How about companies go back to EARNING their money fair and square instead of sitting back and waiting for something that may or may not pay off in court…
Berry 7 ( View Profile) - Posts: 143
Posted: May 21, 2012 at 3:28 PM EST from my BlackBerry 9930 | OS 7.1.0.267
I hope they hash out the rights to their new BB10 camera, before Kodak sues them for that to.