19
Mar
By Eric Schweibenz
On March 19, 2009, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted to institute an investigation of certain digital cameras.  The investigation is based on a February 17, 2009 complaint filed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. of Korea and Samsung Electronics America, Inc.  As explained in our February 19 post, the complaint alleges that Eastman Kodak Company imports into the U.S. (in addition to sale for importation into the U.S. and/or sale within the U.S. after importation) digital cameras that infringe certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 5,731,852 and U.S. Patent No. 6,229,695.  According to the complaint, the ‘852 patent “improves on the prior art recording devices by allowing a variable-length audio file, enabling the user to create ‘sound tags’ or ‘voice memos’ that exceeded the fixed file size known in the prior art.”  Further, the complaint alleges that the ‘695 patent relates to a palm-sized camera, and more particularly to the housing encasing the device’s structure that provides “increased impact-resistance.” 

The ITC has identified Eastman Kodak Company as the respondent in this investigation.