By ELI SEGALL
San Jose Business Journal

Apple Inc. has filed a countersuit against Eastman Kodak Co., alleging that the camera maker infringed on two patents held by the Cupertino, Calif., giant and used them in several products.

The lawsuit, filed April 15 in the San Jose division of U.S. District Court for California's Northern District, comes three months after Kodak said it filed legal complaints against Apple and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd., claiming that they infringed on Kodak patents.

Apple alleged that Rochester-based Kodak infringed "and continues to infringe" on two of its patents - U.S. Patent Nos. 6,031,964 and RE38,911, obtained in February 2000 and December 2005, respectively.

According to Apple, Kodak has used the patents in a range of products, including Kodak's Z, M and C series cameras, as well as the SLICE camera and video cameras Zi6, Zi8 and Zx1.

The company demanded unspecified "compensatory damages" from Kodak and a jury trial, among other things.

Apple attorney Steven Cherensky of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP in Redwood City, Calif., referred a request for comment to Apple. A message left for a company spokeswoman Monday was not immediately returned.

Kodak spokesman David Lanzillo said in an e-mail that the company doesn't comment on litigation as "a matter of practice." He also said the firm has invested "hundreds of millions of dollars" in creating its patent portfolio.

"We have an obligation to our shareholders and the other licensees to protect their interests," he wrote.

Kodak, meanwhile, filed its legal complaints against Apple and Research in Motion this past January.

At the time, Kodak said it filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, alleging that BlackBerry devices and Apple's iPhones improperly used technology for its cameras, according to news reports.

The company had also filed two lawsuits against Apple in U.S. District Court for New York's Western District, claiming that Apple infringed on Kodak patents that were related, in part, to digital cameras.