The latest developments in the Kodak vs. Apple patent saga has the Cupertino-based tech outfit going to court for permission to sue Kodak, even though the Eastman Kodak Company recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

According to Bloomberg, the iPhone and iPad maker filed a request with the US Bankruptcy Court in New York, via which the company is looking to get permission from the court to file a patent lawsuit against Kodak. This patent lawsuit will deal with alleged infringements by Kodak for patents dealing with technology employed within its printers, digital cameras as well as digital photo frames.

Apple intends to file this lawsuit with the US District Court in Manhattan as well as a corresponding complaint at the International Trade Commission (ITC). The aim of this forthcoming lawsuit is to have the ITC ban the importation of Kodak’s products, which allegedly infringe upon Cupertino’s patents.

The fact that Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection doesn’t prevent other companies from suing it over patent infringement, however, Apple’s lawyers provided the following motivation for the company’s request in the filing: “Apple requests express authority from this court before it initiates the actions out of an abundance of caution.”

The legal strife between the two tech companies kicked off at the beginning of 2010 when Kodak sued Apple as well as BlackBerry maker Research In Motion over alleged patent infringements by these companies. The lawsuit dealt with patents on image preview software used in both companies camera-sporting smartphones.

 

In related news Kodak recently announced that it has filed a counter-lawsuit against Fujifilm, alleging that the latter has infringed upon certain of its patents related to digital imaging technology.