https://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/23/3721724/ruling-awaited-in-kodak-patent.html
ROCHESTER,N.Y. (AP) -- After years of wading through a tide of red ink, EastmanKodak Co. is nearing the end of a potentially lucrative patent fightwith tech giants Apple and Research in Motion Ltd.
The U.S.International Trade Commission in Washington is expected to issue aruling Thursday on Kodak's complaint that its 2001 image-preview patentwas infringed by iPhone behemoth Apple Inc., of Cupertino, Calif., andResearch in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry.
Kodak, based inRochester, N.Y., filed suit in January 2010 and is now trying tonegotiate a licensing deal that CEO Antonio Perez estimates could beworth up to $1 billion.
The federal agency can order Customs toblock imports of products made with contested technology. It is seen as afast-track mediator that typically resolves disputes within 18 months.Its rulings often result in swift payment deals.
Kodak hastenaciously protected its intellectual property. It has amassed 11,000patents, more than 1,000 of them in digital imaging. The technology iscritical to the survival of the 131-year-old company in the digital age.
"Theyregard intellectual property as a key business ... and they feelgetting paid for it is a key competency," said James Kelleher, directorof research at Argus Research in New York.
Kodak accumulated $1.9billion in intellectual-property revenue between 2008 and 2010. Evensetting aside any payments it can extract from Apple and RIM, based inCanada, it expects to pick up an average of $250 million to $350 milliona year from its patent portfolio through 2013.
In 2009, the tradeagency ruled that South Korean mobile phone makers Samsung ElectronicsCo. and LG Electronics Inc. infringed the same Kodak patent, whichcenters on a method for extracting a still image while previewing it inthe camera's LCD screen.
Kodak drew a one-time $550 millionroyalty payment from Samsung and a $414 million from LG Electronics. Ithas licensed digital-imaging technology to about 30 companies, includingmobile-device makers such as Motorola Inc. and Nokia Corp.
Relyingon its rich array of inventions for repeated cash infusions has becomean indispensable tactic driven in large part by Kodak's long and painfuldigital turnaround.
Since 2004, Kodak has reported only onefull-year profit -- in 2007 -- and expects another annual loss this yearbefore crossing back to profitability sometime in 2012. It has trimmedits work force to 18,800 from 70,000 in 2002.
Kodak is investingheavily in four growth businesses -- workflow software, packaging, homeinkjet printers and high-speed inkjet presses. Through 2013, it expectsthat revenue will reach nearly $2 billion, accounting for 25 percent ofall revenue.