Eastman Kodak Co. said Monday it is suing South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. for infringing various digital-camera patents it obtained amidst 1993 and 2001.

The photography products company alleges that camera phones made by the Seoul-based electronics companies and their U.S. subsidiaries violate patents on its inventions related to image capture, compression and goods storage, and a method for previewing motion images.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Rochester seeks unspecified monetary damages. Kodak plus lodged a complaint with the worldly Trade Commission in Washington, a move designed to stop importation of products made with the disputed technology.

“We’ve held discussions with both companies in an attempt to resolve that issue and have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement,” said Laura Quatela, Kodak’s chief intellectual property officer. “Consequently, we

must take that legal action.”

The dispute centers on patents issued in 1993, 1997 and 2001, Kodak spokesman David Lanzillo said.

Kodak has licensed its imaging patents to various technology companies including Panasonic Corp., Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp., Olympus Corp. and Sony Corp.

In January 2007, Kodak ended a long-standing patent dispute with Sony by digital-camera inventions dating back to 1987 and entered a cross-licensing deal giving the companies access to each other’s patents.

Kodak had alleged in a 2004 lawsuit that Sony infringed on 10 patents for digital camera patents issued from 1987 to 2003 involving digital and video technologies such as image compression and digital storage.

Kodak has amassed more than 1,000 digital-imaging patents — and nearly all of today’s digital cameras rely on that technology.

Orginal post by Mike

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