In what looks like an attempt to tell the world that Kodak has value somewhere, Kodak has looked on Apple and HTC to get their legal guns out over patents once more.

Kodak fall from grace:

With talk of Kodak filing for bankruptcy protection last week, news that the NYSE was looking to delist the 130 year old company for trading with a value under $1 per share for so long comes as a surprise to many.

The Rochester based imaging giant has taken a fall from grace over recent years, and is looking to take a leaf out of Apples love of litigation.

The base of the claims lie with Kodak believing that both HTC and Apple are infringing some of their patents related to digital imaging, and more specifically image transmission and preview, with specific devices being pinpointed for the infringement, these include the Apple iPad, iPhones and iPods with HTC smartphones and tablets also infringing four of the key patents.

HTC also accused of the same Apple and RIM patent issues:

An ongoing two year old issue related to “image-preview” patents, and technology owned by Kodak, has now seen HTC included in the mix.

The lawsuits which were filed on Tuesday, I feel aim to highlight that the flailing Kodak Corp still has some residual value, in a bid to bump share prices up a little and make the world feel like nothing is wrong at the bad ship Kodak, the truth being far from this.

Kodak share price plummets over 12 years:

Kodak has seen its share price plummet in the last few years, and now currently sells shares at less than $1 each on average for the last month, from a much mightier $66 only 12 years ago, indeed only last week, news of the bankruptcy filing, sent Kodak shares down to a new record low of some $.36 each.

With an overall loss of 99% of market value in 12 years, that is one bad decade for Kodak.

Kodak share hike saves them getting delisted from NYSE:

Indeed only this week Kodak saw a much needed price hike sending shares closer to $1 for the first time in a long while, all on the back of an admission that they need to restructure and cut costs, but also perhaps on the back of threats from the New York Stock Exchange who have warned that Kodak’s shares will be ‘delisted’, or dropped, unless they stop looking so sickly.

If Kodak do indeed go under this year, we have provided a nice graphic for you to take a look at the once mighty company prior to their unfortunate demise.

Click here for History Of Kodak Infographic.

Talks of licensing deals worth over $1 billion are still ongoing with Apple and RIM so we will keep you posted on news related to this area.

What do you think of Kodak going under this year? Likely or unlikely?

It is thought that ASUS will be revealing a new mini version of the Asus transformer prime tablet that currently sees them under scrutiny from Hasbro over the use of the words “transformer” and “prime”.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this month in Las Vegas will see the arrival of many new models and it is expected that it will be the showcase of the new ASUS transformer mini.

The new version is thought to be a 7 inch model of the 10 inch version, which will come with a smaller keyboard dock, the signature of the Asus Transformer Prime.

Asus want to be big in 2012 and distinctive:

There is expected to be a few other arrivals at the CES show and these include:

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• Asus Padfone, a 4.3-inch Ice Cream Sandwich based smartphone which has the ability to turn into a tablet via a 10.1-inch touchscreen dock.
• 7-inch version of the Eee Memo Pad, with a rumoured 1.2 Ghz Snapdragon processor, 1280×800 resolution display, with Wi-Fi and 3G options.

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Will they keep the transformer name?

With Hasbro genuinely unhappy about the choice of names of the Asus transformer tablet, it may be unwise to carry on this potential legal disaster to another model even though in my eyes it seems pretty far fetched that they would have a leg to stand on, I am no lawyer and would not be the best person to pontificate on any outcome here, so if I was Asus, airing on the side of caution would be my instinct, especially as the transformers brand is growing from strength to strength currently.

Hasbro filed the action to sue in a LA court stating that the use of the term could lead to consumer confusion, and has requested that compensation be paid for damages related to the use of the term in current and future products.

Can the word “transformer” really be trademarked/patented/copyrighted?

Are you a lawyer in this field in the US?

If so, please do shed some light on the issue if you are, as it seems far fetched to me.

Barbara Finigan, Hasbro’s chief legal officer, said in a statement.

“Hasbro continues to aggressively protect its brands and products and the specific actions we are taking today against Asus underscores yet again Hasbro’s willingness to pursue companies who misappropriate our intellectual property for their own financial gain….the Transformers property is an incredibly popular global brand which enjoys tremendous fan support and interest around the world. The action we have announced today is in the best interests of our company and our shareholders.”

So like Apple, they are not taking things lightly and I am actually really excited to see what the outcome will be on this one.

Though if I was Asus I would counter sue Hasbro for making my new line of tablets sound like they are a kids toy….we had all pretty much forgotten the name until recently!…How rude Hasbro how rude.