Apple Asks Bankruptcy Judge For Permission to Sue Kodak

Eastman Kodak Co. may be in the midst of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, but that hasn’t stopped Apple from asking a bankruptcy judge for permission to file a patent infringement claim against the photography pioneer. Apple says the patents are involved in Kodak’s digital cameras, digital picture frames, and printers.

According to Bloomberg, Apple says that during the early 1990s, it was involved in the development of a digital camera with Kodak, and that Kodak patented the resulting technology. Kodak has denied that and is currently suing Apple and Research in Motion over its image preview patent. That case, filed in January 2010, is still pending.

Last month, Kodak filed another patent infringement complaint against Apple and HTC, one that Apple said the US International Trade Commission shouldn’t investigate because of the bankruptcy filing. Kodak shot back and said that the bankruptcy case shouldn’t affect its efforts to protect its patents, which it has been trying to license as a way to shore up its revenue and rightsize its financial situation.

Kodak’s Chapter 11 filing showed assets of US$5.1 billion and debt of $6.8 billion.