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Kodak Samsung Agree to Settle Patent Lawsuit
Eastman Kodak announced on December 22, 2009 that it has agreed to settle a patent infringement lawsuit over digital camera technology with Samsung Electronics. The announcement was made less than a week after an administrative judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) initially ruled that the Korean electronics giant had infringed Kodak’s patents related to image capture, compression, data storage, and image preview. According to a complaint filed by Kodak in November 2008, Samsung infringed on Kodak’s patents by importing and selling in the U.S. mobile phones using such technology.
Once the settlement agreement is finalized, Kodak will move for the dismissal of the complaint against Samsung. According to Kodak, the settlement will include the two companies entering into a cross license agreement and Samsung making a non-refundable, one-time payment toward its future royalty obligations to Kodak. Any settlement between the two companies will also prevent the case from being elevated to the full six-member commission, which reviews initial rulings of ITC judges. Should the commission agree with the ITC judge that Samsung violated Kodak’s patents, the commission has the authority to ban the importation of Samsung’s infringing mobile phones.
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