ITC Judge in Kodak-Apple Patent Spat Retires

The patent infringement case Kodak brought against Apple and Research In Motion with the International Trade Commission may drag on longer than expected, now that the judge presiding over it has retired. ITC Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Luckern, who ruled in January that Apple’s and RIM’s smartphones don’t infringe on Kodak’s image-preview patents, stepped down on Wednesday, leaving that case to be reassigned to other judges. Unfortunate for Kodak and everyone else involved, as Luckern was expected to issue a decision in the case by the end of this month.