Kodak might be down, but it certainly isn’t out. The company has emerged as victor in an attempt to prevent Apple from filing a patent infringement lawsuit against it in a US federal district court.

Last month Apple approached the US Bankruptcy Court in New York, looking to get permission to file a patent lawsuit against Kodak, with the US District Court in Manhattan as well as a corresponding complaint at the International Trade Commission (ITC). This week, Kodak responded by filing its own request with the bankruptcy court, via which it sought to prevent Apple from pursuing this course of legal action.

According to Reuters, US Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper on Thursday found that it will be an “inappropriate way forward” to allow Apple to pursue claims against Kodak, whilst the company is in bankruptcy.

Judge Gropper, who also oversees Kodak’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, did agree with both companies that the patent issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible. He also said that it must be addressed in a manner that will not interfere with Kodak’s ongoing plans to sell off its vast digital imaging patent portfolio for up to $2.6 billion, in order to emerge from bankruptcy. The judge requested that both parties report to him on their efforts to come up with a solution to this patent matter.

 

In other patent related news, Samsung recently filed a lawsuit against Apple in South Korea, which claims that the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 infringes upon three of its patents.