Kodak Alleges Patent Infringement Against Samsung, Files For Chapter 11 of U.S. Bankruptcy Code
Struggling Eastman Kodak said Thursday that it and its U.S. subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to reorganize its business.
In addition, the company announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., alleging infringement of certain patents related to Kodak digital imaging technology.
The photographic film pioneer, which had tried to restructure to become a seller of consumer products like cameras, said it had also obtained a $950 million, 18-month credit facility from Citigroup to keep it going.
The loan and bankruptcy protection from U.S. trade creditors may give Kodak the time it needs to find buyers for some of its 1,100 digital patents, the key to its remaining value.
Kodak's market value has sunk to below $150 million from $31 billion 15 years ago.
In the last few years, Kodak has used extensive litigation with rivals such as Apple, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and Taiwan's HTC over those patents as a means to try to generate revenue. Those patents may now be sold through the bankruptcy process.
Kodak on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Samsung alleging infringements of its patents related to digital imaging technology.
The latest complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, alleges that certain Samsung tablets infringe patented Kodak digital imaging technology.
The complaint against Samsung alleges infringement of the following five patents:
- U.S. Patent No. 6,292,218 - "Electronic Camera For Initiating Capture of Still Images While Previewing Motion Images"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,210,161 - "Automatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Camera to a Service Provider Using a Network Configuration File"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,742,084 - "Network Configuration File for Automatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Still Camera"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,453,605 - "Capturing Digital Images to be Transferred to an E-Mail Address"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,936,391 - "Digital Camera with Communications Interface for Selectively Transmitting Images over a Cellular Phone Network and a Wireless LAN Network to a Destination"
The photographic film pioneer, which had tried to restructure to become a seller of consumer products like cameras, said it had also obtained a $950 million, 18-month credit facility from Citigroup to keep it going.
The loan and bankruptcy protection from U.S. trade creditors may give Kodak the time it needs to find buyers for some of its 1,100 digital patents, the key to its remaining value.
Kodak's market value has sunk to below $150 million from $31 billion 15 years ago.
In the last few years, Kodak has used extensive litigation with rivals such as Apple, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and Taiwan's HTC over those patents as a means to try to generate revenue. Those patents may now be sold through the bankruptcy process.
Kodak on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Samsung alleging infringements of its patents related to digital imaging technology.
The latest complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, alleges that certain Samsung tablets infringe patented Kodak digital imaging technology.
The complaint against Samsung alleges infringement of the following five patents:
- U.S. Patent No. 6,292,218 - "Electronic Camera For Initiating Capture of Still Images While Previewing Motion Images"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,210,161 - "Automatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Camera to a Service Provider Using a Network Configuration File"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,742,084 - "Network Configuration File for Automatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Still Camera"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,453,605 - "Capturing Digital Images to be Transferred to an E-Mail Address"
- U.S. Patent No. 7,936,391 - "Digital Camera with Communications Interface for Selectively Transmitting Images over a Cellular Phone Network and a Wireless LAN Network to a Destination"
