Kodak lawsuit cost Sun USD 92 millions

Kodak lawsuit cost Sun USD 92 millions

Eastman Kodak Co. sued Sun Microsystems Inc. and claimed damages worth USD 1 Billion over long running patent disputes related to object management procedures implemented by Sun in the very popular Java programming language. Kodak got hold of the patents in review when they bought Wang Laboratories in 1997.

Although, Sun made it clear that it does not accept Kodak’s claim that their Java language infringed on any of Kodak patents, they agreed to settle the dispute out of the court at around 10% of the claimed damages at around USD 92 million. This happened just the night before the trial’s damage phase was due to start, which found that Sun was at fault.

With this decision the two years old dispute between the two companies is more or less settled. Sun would have found it difficult to survive if it had to pay the damages originally demanded. According to Forbes, the amount itself is almost half of the operating profits Sun made from selling computers and storage equipments from 1998 to 2001. Java forms a little part in Sun’s earning.