Kodak and Sony sign technology agreement Fighting turns to sharing

3 January 2007 16:41 GMT / By Stuart Miles

As reported on our sister site, photographypress.co.uk, Kodak has said it signed a licensing pact with Sony that settles a dispute over digital camera and imaging technology patents, and grants each company access to the other's patents.

Kodak also announced that it has entered into a technology cross license with Sony Ericsson that will allow Sony Ericsson access to Kodak technology for Sony Ericsson’s products. Kodak will also have access to Sony Ericsson’s technology.

The license agreements are royalty bearing to Kodak. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.

“These cross-license agreements give us broad access to the technology of Sony and Sony Ericsson, and validate the strength of Kodak’s intellectual property portfolio”, said Laura G. Quatela, Managing Director, Intellectual Property Transactions, and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company.

Separately, the companies agreed to conclude their patent litigation, which involved a subset of their imaging technologies.

Kodak in March 2004 sued Sony, alleging that the Japanese consumer electronics company infringed several of Kodak's patents related to digital photography. The fight intensified one month later when Sony sued Kodak over different imaging patents.