Apple has asked a bankruptcy court for a swift appeal on that court’s ruling that Apple’s ownership claims for two Kodak patents were invalid. Apple told the court it was in everyone’s best interest to deal with an appeal sooner, rather than later.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper is supervising Kodak’s bankruptcy proceedings, and those proceedings include the sale of more than 700 patents that Kodak wants to use to pay off creditors. In addition to bidding on the overall portfolio, Apple has claimed ownership of 10 of those patents, accusing Kodak of misappropriating technology jointly developed by the two companies in the 1990s.
Judge Gropper dismissed Apple’s ownership claims on two of the patents, saying that Apple waited too long to assert those claims. The other eight patents remain in play until the judge has had more time to consider them.
Apple has also worked overtime to try and get its ownership claims moved outside of Judge Gropper’s bankruptcy court, but has repeatedly failed to do so. The company now is asking the judge to allow Apple’s appeal of his decision to proceed, which we might note would effectively move at least these two patent claims outside of the bankruptcy court.
“There is no just reason to delay an appeal,” an Apple attorney wrote to the judge, according to Bloomberg. “Apple believes it is in all of the parties’ interests to resolve all potential appeals on these issues as soon as possible.”
The judge has yet to rule on the motion.
Oh, and the U.S. International Trade Commission recently ruled the patents weren’t valid.