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Kodak and Apple win early victories at International Trade Commission, big bucks hang in the balance

Looks like the US International Trade Commission's had a busy week in tech, as Bloomberg reports the organization has ruled on two longstanding patent wars involving Apple, Nokia, RIM and Kodak. While neither is out of the woods quite yet, two companies have reason to be pleased: Apple and Kodak. ITC Judge E. James Gildea ruled that five Nokia patents don't apply to Apple products, making a ban on iDevice importation unlikely in the United States, and the commission has also agreed to reconsider Kodak's case against Apple and RIM (regarding camera image previews) with its full six members present. Since nobody likes having their products seized at customs, even such preliminary verdicts can lead to large cash sums being paid out, and Kodak thinks it's found a whopper here -- Bloomberg reports that Kodak received a total of $964 million in licensing fees from Samsung and LG, and the company thinks it can suck $1 billion out of its latest pair of defendants. We'll let you know how it goes down.