Eastman Kodak Co. has just filed a suit against Apple Inc. – which is definitely turning the tables, considering how Apple sued already bankrupt Kodak in February earlier this year, after Kodak quit the digital camera market which that very same month as well. Shame, really, considering how Kodak was a photography pioneer, and to see them bow out of the business in such a manner so many years down the road. Ah well, back to the matter at hand – Kodak has sued Apple, claiming interference in patent sales. This lawsuit was filed in a US bankruptcy court in Manhattan earlier this week, where Kodak claimed that Apple has wrongly laid claim to be the owner of 10 patents that was the result of work that the companies did together in the early 1990s.
According to Kodak, Apple is the largest infringer of patents in a particular portfolio, not to mention being well placed to be a potential purchaser of said patents. Kodak mentioned, “Apple’s strategy has been to use its substantial cash position to delay as long as possible the payment of royalties to Kodak. Apple and FlashPoint are seeking to benefit from Kodak’s difficult financial position, which will be exacerbated if the debtors cannot obtain fair value for the patents.”