LG wins review by U.S. officials over Kodak importing cameras
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Electronics | By: Peter Chubb
Posted on: March 26, 2009 | 1 Comment
LG Electronics Inc, (066570) had requested to bar Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) from importing digital cameras, and the Korean company has won a review by U.S. officials. Bloomberg have reported that the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington has said that they are to investigate the complaint that LG brought on February 20.
The probe will look into whether Kodak EasyShare cameras infringe LG’s patents. LG have also filed a civil lawsuit with the same allegations in a federal court in San Diego. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) has also filed a similar lawsuit against Kodak in the same month.
Both LG and Samsung begun this battle after Kodak filed an ITC case in November, hoping to try to block imports of cell phones with cameras made by LG and Samsung. Kodak said that it had made the decision as LG and Samsung could not reach an agreement during licensing talks, going back to 2004.
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Dave Lanzillo here from Kodak. Allow me to share our perspective.
Kodak invented the digital camera more than 30 years ago at our research labs in Rochester, N.Y. Many global companies have licensed our digital camera technology for use in their products.
When Samsung and LG refused to do so, Kodak, on November 17, 2008, sued in the ITC and Federal District Court. We believe that Samsung’s and LG’s filings are simply retaliatory tactics and we intend to vigorously contest their claims.