The Eastman Kodak Company - better known as simply Kodak - and its US subsidiaries have today filed voluntary petitions for ‘chapter 11’ business reorganisation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. It’s a decision that doesn’t affect non-US subsidiaries.
The company has also filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics, alleging that certain Samsung tablets infringe five of Kodak’s digital imaging technology patents.
What’s particularly notable is that Kodak and Samsung set up a patent licensing deal two years ago. It concluded a number of legal cases and allowed each company access to the other’s patent portfolio whilst also delivering royalty payments to Kodak.
In fact, just last week, a separate Kodak patent claim announcement against Fujifilm included the statement “Kodak has licensed its digital imaging patents to more than 30 leading technology companies, including LG, Motorola, Samsung and Nokia, with all of the licenses royalty-bearing to Kodak.”