For an emerging generation of Japanese innovators, the dream isn’t a job for life at a big company. They have new ambitions, and they’re determined to go places. Especially Silicon Valley.WASHINGTON – Eastman Kodak Co., the 130-year-old company that popularized film photography, is trying to gain ground lost in the digital revolution by using its collection of patents to target Apple and Research In Motion.
Among its more than 1,000 digital-imaging patents is one Kodak says entitles it to royalties on every Apple iPhone and RIM BlackBerry with an image-preview camera feature. In a case that started Wednesday, Kodak is betting the International Trade Commission in Washington will back its complaint and block imports of the smart phones if a payment agreement isn’t reached.
Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez has said the Rochester, N.Y.-based company expects revenue from its intellectual property to average $250 million to $350 million a year for the next several years.
“It’s been an important component in getting some cash on the balance sheet,” James Kelleher, director of research at Argus Research in New York, said in a telephone interview. “They don’t treat intellectual property as a sidebar, they treat it as a core competency.”
Steven Sasson, a retired Kodak engineer who was called as the company’s first witness Wednesday, said that the preview feature is used in every digital camera and phone with a camera. Kodak contends it invented the digital camera and has picked other patent fights over the technology with Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp.
“The patent battles in digital are going to seem like pillow fights compared with what they’re going to face against deep-pocketed companies like Apple and RIM,” Kelleher said.
The Kodak patent in the Apple and RIM case, issued in 2001, is for an electronic camera that can preview low-resolution versions of a moving image while recording still images at a high resolution. Higher resolution requires more processing power and storage space on the electronic device.
“We have had discussions for years with both Apple and RIM in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement,” said David Lanzillo, a Kodak spokesman.
Marisa Conway, a spokeswoman for RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation. A spokeswoman for Apple, also declined to discuss the case.
