Research in Motion (RIM) has filed a lawsuit against Kodak, in an attempt to have Kodak's digital camera patents declared invalid.

This development comes less than a week after Kodak filed a legal complaint against Samsung and LG, alleging both companies used technologies which violated Kodak-held patents for digital image capturing, storage and compression.

According to Bloomberg, RIM alleges Kodak has demanded “exorbitant royalties” on the sales of several BlackBerry models, claiming the handsets use the same technologies. RIM has asked a Texas court to find the patents either invalid, not infringed or unenforceable.

The complaint states that Kodak contacted RIM last year, claiming that “devices that include a digital camera are utilizing Kodak’s patented technology.”

The suit is something of a pre-emptive strike – RIM's filing states the company expects Kodak to file a patent infringement suit.  

According to the Canadian Press, Kodak currently holds more than 1,000 digital imaging patents.

The devices that have been alleged to infringe on Kodak patents are the BlackBerry 8700 and 8800, and the BlackBerry Pearl. 

Source:telecomasia