March 9, 2012 - On March 8, the judge presiding over Kodak's bankruptcy proceedings denied Apple's request to file a complaint against Kodak with the International Trade Commission.
Apple alleges that Kodak's QuickTake 100 and 150 digital cameras from the 1990s, as well as some of its digital photo frames and printers, infringe on a certain patent that both companies claim ownership of because they collaborated on its development in the 1990s. To complicate matters, the disputed patent is part of a digital-imaging patent portfolio that Kodak hopes to sell for as much as $2.6 billion.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Allen Gropper denied Apple permission to file the lawsuit, saying that he should be the one to straighten out Apple and Kodak's patent dispute instead of the ITC. However, Apple may sue Kodak in the ITC anyway.