Jerimiah Yap

Apple and Research In Motion (RIM) came out as victors in the patent case filed against them by Eastman Kodak, popular imaging company. Kodak filed a suit citing Apple and RIM had been using the company's digital image-preview technology without paying royalties.

According to Kodak's spokesperson Chris Veronda via the New York Times, "The patent's validity has been upheld in previous litigation at the I.T.C., and was affirmed by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office. We are confident that its validity will ultimately be upheld."

The judge and the United States International Trade Commission both agreed that Kodak's case was invalid. It found Apple and RIM to be innocent of any wrongdoing. The reasons for the decision is not known yet and will be available once the companies involved in the case review and decide what confidential information they wish not to disclose for public knowledge.

Kodak claimed that they were entitled to $1 billion from Apple in royalties. The has dragged on for more than two years. It has been that long because the original judge handling the case retired. The company had already made an estimated $3 billion in licensing fees from other electronics companies such as LG Electronics, Nokia and Samsung.

Kodak's claim was refuted by Apple by stating that "it is the true owner of the image-preview idea and other Kodak patents because of a research agreement between the companies in the 1990s."

Kodak said about four months ago that it would stand to win about $1 billion if Apple and RIM were to be found guilty of violating its patent claim.

The New York Times adds that, "The patented feature, which Kodak says all modern cameras use, saves energy by previewing low-resolution versions of a moving image while recording still images at a high resolution."