M·CAM, Inc. releases Patently Obvious™ on Kodak’s U.S. Patent No. 7,202,982

Date:  Wed, 2010-12-22

M·CAM, Inc. releases Patently Obvious™ on Kodak’s U.S. Patent No. 7,202,982

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – December 22, 2010 –– M·CAM, Inc. released its Patently Obvious™ report today on the patent holdings of Kodak highlighted in Eastman Kodak Company v. Shutterfly Inc. 10–cv–01079. Woefully far behind in the digital camera market, Kodak began to focus on breaking into aligned markets, leveraging the strength of its brand name to develop products ranging from digital picture frames to an online photo gallery service. Even in this niche industry, Kodak found itself rubbing elbows with competing services such as HP’s Snapfish and Shutterfly. Unable to substantially differentiate themselves from their competitors, Kodak decided to attempt to leverage its patent portfolio against them. On December 10, 2010, Kodak filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Shutterfly, the popular Internet–based photo publishing service, alleging that Shutterfly infringes on Kodak’s patents by producing and selling image products via its website, Shutterfly.com. Shutterfly wasted no time in filing a similar suit against Kodak claiming infringement of their patents by Kodak’s Kodak Gallery site.

The question stands: are Kodak’s infringement claims against Shutterfly valid, or will potential weaknesses in its asserted patents be the final nails in the coffin for Kodak’s future relevancy in the realm of consumer photography? Using the M·CAM DOORS™ software platform, the innovation space surrounding the asserted patents was examined in order to understand their strength and defensibility in the face of prior and concurrent art innovations.

M·CAM’s Patently Obvious™ is a weekly report providing visibility into potentially unconsidered alternatives, including art in the public domain, to patent holdings across a variety of technology areas.

M·CAM, Inc. is a global, full–service intellectual property and rights (IP&R) and intangible asset financial services firm. We provide the technical and financial systems that allow public and private markets to use IP&R and IA for regulated transactions in banking, securities, insurance, and public innovation investment and technology procurement. From our pioneering work in creating the world’s first standards–based innovation collateralization financial products for banking and securities to our work in grassroots innovator enablement and patent quality assurance programs, M·CAM provides the mechanism to balance the interests of public and commercial sectors to support and build thriving economies.

The M·CAM Patently Obvious™ report on Kodak v. Shutterfly can be found HERE