Kodak Wins Initial Ruling in Patent Countersuit by Apple

kodak logoBloomberg reports that Eastman Kodak has achieved a victory with an initial ruling from a U.S. International Trade Commission judge stating that the company has not infringed two Apple patents cited in a lawsuit filed last year. That lawsuit by Apple was initiated in response to a patent lawsuit by Kodak filed several months earlier.

Neither of the two patents in Apple's case before the ITC were being infringed, and one of the patents is invalid, Judge Robert Rogers in Washington said yesterday. The judge's findings are subject to review by the six-member ITC, which has the power to block imports of products that infringe U.S. patents.

A similar initial determination in Kodak's case against Apple and Research in Motion ruled against Kodak in January, but the broader ITC panel decided to reexamine the case, breathing new life into Kodak's efforts to extract as much as $1 billion in licensing fees from Apple and Research in Motion.

Popular Stories

iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
apple music chatgpt

ChatGPT's Apple Music Integration Is Now Live

Wednesday December 17, 2025 3:50 pm PST by
There's now a dedicated Apple Music app for ChatGPT, which allows ChatGPT to make music recommendations and build playlists. Apple Music can be added to ChatGPT through the Settings section in the Mac app, website, or iOS app. Apple Music is listed under the apps option, and connecting to it requires signing in with your Apple Account for authorization purposes. ChatGPT can be used to...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple's 2026 and 2027 Product Roadmap: Foldable iPhone, iPhone 18 Pro, M5 Macs, and More

Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond. We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...
apple iphone air battery pack

Apple Aims to Boost Popularity of iPhone Air 2 in Two Ways

Tuesday December 16, 2025 11:06 am PST by
We have been covering iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 17e, and iPhone Fold details from The Information's report about future iPhone models, and next up is the iPhone Air 2. The report says that Apple aims to make the iPhone Air 2 more attractive in two ways. First, Apple is apparently considering adding a second rear camera to the device, which would resolve a key limitation. The current iPhone...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
a15 chip

Apple Tested a MacBook With the A15 Chip

Wednesday December 17, 2025 7:19 am PST by
An internal Apple kernel debug kit suggests Apple has tested a MacBook with the A15 chip, alongside a separate A18 Pro-based MacBook that appears to be closer to a shippable product. The information comes from internal kernel debug kit files used by Apple engineers. The kit was accidentally released on Apple's website earlier this year, but it was quickly pulled after information started...
maxresdefault

Apple Developing iMac Pro With M5 Max Chip

Tuesday December 16, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is developing a high-end iMac featuring the M5 Max chip, according to information from leaked internal software. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The finding comes from leaked kernel debug kit files used by Apple engineers. These kernel debug kit files enumerate unreleased Apple hardware by internal identifiers, such as codenames and platform names, and they...

Top Rated Comments

Small White Car Avatar
191 months ago
Man, I love Apple and all, but it's funny that they think they can somehow beat the inventors of the digital camera in such a way that Apple comes out completely on top.

I know this legal stuff involves a lot of give and take and there's never a total winner, but surely Kodak's got the upper hand in this particular fight, yeah?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lilo777 Avatar
191 months ago
Or Apple can simply bury and sufficate them with the Apple cash stockpile.

Or for once they could just pay people for inventing stuff.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mattie Num Nums Avatar
191 months ago
Or Apple can simply bury and sufficate them with the Apple cash stockpile.

You mean the cash stockpile they have that's overseas and don't want to spend because of taxes?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
weespeed Avatar
191 months ago
*pssst* I think you missed the part of the article where it mentioned Kodak "getting their ass handed to them" in January. Kodak started the fight, Apple counter fired, and it's looking more and more like a zero-sum game, where Apple and RIM will not have to pay licensing fees.
No. The ruling to determine if Apple and RIM owe Kodak money is in September. They are re-examining the ruling against Kodak. I suspect because Samsung and LG already are paying Kodak royalties now.

Apple lost their counter-suit and now one of their patents have been found to be invalid. This is actually bad news for Apple regarding this patent suit.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcraig Avatar
191 months ago
So what. No effect to Apple. Everything that is critical, Apple already has rights to.

Great post.. only... if Apple had won - I guarantee you'd be singing another tune, right?

Predictable post from predictable posters.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
philr5150 Avatar
191 months ago

Oh, and Apple should definitely buy Kodak and their huge patent collection and then collect royalties from all of their competitors. That would be ingenious and very Steve Jobs-like.

Really? Bill Gates did that and the world called him a sonofabitch. Jobs do it and it's a stroke of genius?

It's called patent-trolling. Enough companies already doing that. Apple should just concentrate on making functional, cool-looking devices.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)