Kodak wins a billion dollar lawsuit

More reason for me to hate Kodak. What a joke (the legal system)...


http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?s...41003041632172

From: (Mike Henley)

More reason for me to hate Kodak. What a joke (the legal system)...

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?s...41003041632172

You didn't understand what was written ... they won a lawsuit and in the second
phase are *asking* for a billion dollars. Not very likely they'll get it ...

Bill Hilton wrote:

From: (Mike Henley)


More reason for me to hate Kodak. What a joke (the legal system)...

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?s...41003041632172


You didn't understand what was written ... they won a lawsuit and in the second
phase are *asking* for a billion dollars. Not very likely they'll get it ...

An article written by an anti-business former paralegal. No need to go
further.

--
John McWilliams

You didn't understand what was written ... they won a lawsuit and in the
second
phase are *asking* for a billion dollars. Not very likely they'll get it ...



I did... I just copied a news article title... http://tinyurl.com/4oxdj

I find it aboslutely crazy the way the legal system is set up in these matters.
They didn't have to convince a judge or even a technical jury, but a regular
household jury in Rochester where their plant is the biggest employer. I'm sure
they'll get rid of them - the plant and the people - in a minute if the money
says so, given their audacity in seeking a billion dollar in damages from Sun
Microsystems that distributes java for free. That's literally *half* their
(Sun's) profit during the dotcom boom from selling excellent hardware and
services. What audacity!

Apparently the technical forums, such as slashdot, are fuming over this case.
It seems the general opinion is that the patents were hilariously invalid.

The Rochester democrat and chronicle, which first broke the story, said that
"What's at stake" is that "Kodak will be asking a federal jury to award more
than $1 billion in damages in connection with a patent lawsuit. Analysts say
the money could help provide a financial cushion as Kodak shifts from chemical
to computerized imaging."

I'm just stunned by the audacity. I really doubt I will buy a Kodak product
from now given their behavior in this matter.

An article written by an anti-business former paralegal. No need to go
further.

Frivolous lawsuits are a valid business?

Biotech companies have been able to patent naturally occurring genes, not
the process by which they isolated the gene, but the gene itself. Patent law
says they own your genes.

That is an insane concept.

The patent system is indeed out of control because it allows a concept or
idea to patented whereas logic would say that only the particular, tangible
application of the idea should be patentable.

The lawyers win again because they profit most from litigating this lunacy.
Is it any accident that all judges are lawyers who have a vested interest in
seeing that the scope of litigation and liability constantly expands?

You cannot sue your way to excellence--A. Morita

The law is what the judges say it is--Oliver Wendell Holmes

A judge is just a personal injury lawyer in a black robe--me

Oh goody! Now they can afford to keep making film, even at a loss...

Excelsior, you fatheads!
-Chris-

Mike Henley wrote:

More reason for me to hate Kodak. What a joke (the legal system)...


http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?s...41003041632172


I'm sure that story accurately represents the facts and not a one sided opinion
from a writer who needs to fill his pages. /cynicism=off/

One of the statements is a great misleader:
"Software has not always been covered by patent law" which may be true, however
when somebody DOES reduce an algorithm to a description and files and receives
patent recognition, then all that is left to the court is to decide if it has
been infringed or not... apparently this court said Sun did. Now figure out the
value of that infringement.

The real "suspicious" thing here is that the court was in Rochester... I'm sure
a less partisan jury could be found elsewhere...

Anyway, follow the link in the story above to the article.

Cheers,
Alan

--
"There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph.
All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth."
-Richard Avedon
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Mike Henley wrote:
More reason for me to hate Kodak. What a joke (the legal system)...


http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?s...41003041632172

Ah well, http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1664878,00.asp is some consolation.

--
"There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph.
All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth."
-Richard Avedon
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

The real "suspicious" thing here is that the court was in Rochester... I'm
sure
a less partisan jury could be found elsewhere...


It's a scandal, as far as I'm concerned, for Kodak.

Kodak will be asking the same Rochester jury that ruled in its favor for the
damages, and this jury, I'm sure many of whom can't even set the time on a VCR,
let alone decide on a very technical case like this one, will most likely award
Kodak, the biggest employer in their area and a company that's been threatening
to tranfer jobs offshore, as much damages as possible.

In fact, it totally and absolutely stinks. What's more is that Kodak did not
"innovate"; they merely purchased those questionable patents from a small
company and now are seeking to milk them in an audacious moneygrab, asking for
literally *half* the profits of Sun Microsystems on all its products and
services (Sun provides java for free). It's as if Sun, one of the most
respected companies in its industry for its engineering-led technical
supremacy, is indebted to Kodak, a mediocre business-driven company, for
everything!

How outrageous!

I sure would not want to profit the management that does such things.

There's a letter that someone wrote and posted, I think i will write a similar
one and send it to them to let them know how totally disgusted I am by this.

(his letter) "I am a software developer and amateur photography enthusiast, and
I have recently learned about Kodak’s patent infringement suit against Sun
Microsystems. It is a shame that companies with failing business models
consistently try to earn money through litigation rather than production and
innovation. I realize that the proliferation of digital photography has caused
hardship for the Eastman Kodak Company, but the use of this vague and overbroad
patent against the software industry is unconscionable. As a direct result of
this litigation, I will never again purchase another Kodak product, and I will
encourage my family and colleagues to do the same. Malicious litigation is not
an acceptable substitute for honest business.

Feel free to use/adapt my letter (in the parent post). Here's where to send
your letter:

Eastman Kodak Company
Attn: Corporate Information
343 State Street
Rochester, New York 14650
"