Samsung to pay Kodak for patents infringement
Posted on December 25th, 2009
Kodak, the name that is almost synonymous with pictures and images, has amassed more than 1,000 digital-imaging patents, being one of the pioneers in this industry. Almost all of today’s digital cameras rely on that technology.
Recently, Eastman Kodak Co., raised a patent infringement claim against Samsungs Electronics Co. Kodak had alleged that in November 2008, the camera phones made by Samsung violated various patents that Kodak obtained from 1993 to 2001.
The latest word from Kodak was that Samsung has agreed to pay them an undisclosed sum as the two sides try to settle the over the patents in question. The announcement came less than a week after the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Samsung infringed two Kodak patents.
In the announced agreement, Kodak and Samsung are working out a licensing deal to cover the patents disputed, and also others owned by the two companies. The payments that Samsung agreed to make, according to Kodak, would be credited toward future royalty obligations under the licensing deal.
Kodak’s intellectual property chief, Laura Quatela, said “We look forward to reaching a mutually beneficial arrangement that advances the interests of Kodak and Samsung while validating the strength of Kodak’s intellectual property portfolio.”
Samsung, which is based in Seoul, is the world’s biggest manufacturer of memory chips, liquid crystal displays and flat screen televisions and ranks second behind Finland’s Nokia in mobile phones.
Aside for Samsung, the Rochester-based Kodak, also had filed complaints against South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc., claiming that LG and Samsung imported phones with digital cameras and related components that infringed on Kodak’s patents.
The said dispute was settled when with Kodak agreeing to sell to LG by year’s end its technology for super-thin OLED screens. OLED stands for Organic light-emitting diodes which generate light on the screen’s surface. With the said technology, screens don’t have to be illuminated from behind and consume less power than their non-organic LED counterparts.
