Eastman Kodak Co., a 128-year-old photography company, filed a U.S. trade complaint against Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics seeking to ban imports of mobile phones that have digital cameras.
Kodak, based in Rochester, N.Y., filed the complaint Monday with the U.S. International Trade Commission. Kodak also filed two patent-infringement lawsuits against the companies in federal court in Rochester, seeking cash and an order that would stop use of its patented inventions.
Kodak said it"s had a "series of communications" with Samsung and LG beginning in 2004, according to the lawsuit. The patents relate to ways to capture, compress and store digital images, and a way to preview motion images, Kodak said.
"Kodak has a long history of innovation and we have invested many millions of dollars developing our digital camera technology," Laura Quatela, Kodak"s chief intellectual property officer, said in a statement. "We must take this legal action in order to ensure that we protect the interests of our shareholders and existing licensees of Kodak digital camera patents."
The ITC, if it agrees to investigate the case, could block imports of any products made by Seoul-based LG and Suwon, Korea-based Samsung that are found to violate Kodak patents. The civil suit is likely to be put on hold while the ITC conducts its investigation.
Samsung and LG representatives didn"t immediately return messages seeking comment.
Kodak is eliminating jobs and forecasting a third-straight annual sales decline.