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Kodak's Patent Spat Threatens Photo Web Sites

Posted by samzenpus on from the seeing-is-owning dept.

Alain Williams writes "According to the BBC: 'Kodak claimed it owns patents regarding the display of online images that is being infringed by Shutterfly. The photo-sharing site disputes these claims and has launched a counter suit. But the landmark case could have ramifications for other popular online photo sites such as Yahoo's Flickr and Google's Picasa.'"

3 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. Market cap.. by RightSaidFred99 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't Kodak's market cap well less than $2BN? Google should just buy them, fire everyone, sell of the interesting parts, and then salt the land where their headquarters is.

  2. Re:Oh how the mighty have fallen... by a_kibitzer · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think Dr. Land and Polaroid Corp will be interested to learn that Kodak invented Polaroid instant photography.

  3. Re:Claims by Theaetetus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Wrong.

    I just have to show prior art for the portion of the claim they alleged as being infringed.

    No, you're wrong. To invalidate a claim of a patent, you must show that each and every limitation in the claim is either anticipated by the prior art under 35 USC 102 or obvious under a combination of prior art references under 35 USC 103(a).

    Similarly, to infinge a claim of a patent, you must infringe each and every limitation of the claim. If the claim says "A+B+C+D" and you only do "A+B+C", you have not infringed.

    Your statements about "the portion of the claim are simply incorrect.

    And yes, I am a registered patent agent.