Kodak Wins Patent Dispute Cases Against Apple & RIM

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Have you tried taking a photo with your iPhone or Blackberry and wondered at how quickly the phone can show an image preview? It turns out Kodak owns the patent, and it wants to be paid.

The US International Trade Commission has recently ruled in favor of Eastman Kodak for a patent dispute claim against RIM and Apple, makers of Blackberry and iPhone, respectively. The patent involves displaying a lower resolution version of an image while the higher resolution version is being saved in the back-end.

Kodak is said to have earned $82 billion in patents in 2010, as “every digital camera and phone with a camera” uses such a technology.

While the ITC cannot impose on companies to pay fines (unlike a federal court can), it can impose certain sanctions like import bans. Apple and RIM are likely to settle with Kodak rather than lose camera functionalities in their devices. In 2009, Samsung and LG settled with Kodak to the tune of $964 million for a similar patent infringement case.