Victory at Last

• Author: Ronald K. Fierstein
• Profession: Lawyer on the team of litigators from the prestigious patent law firm of Fish & Neave
• Pages: 465-478

465

CHAPTER 26

VICTORY AT LAST

Shortly after five p.m., with the stock markets closed for the weekend,

Herbert Schwartz received a phone call in his office from Bill Cheese-

man. He had in his possession, fresh from the courthouse, Judge Zobel’s

long-awaited opinion in the case of Polaroid v. Kodak. As Cheeseman

began to read the result to Schwartz, his secretary put out the word to

other Fish & Neave lawyers who had worked on the case and, within

minutes, those still in the office gathered around Schwartz’s desk.1 It was

immediately apparent to all that the result was, from Polaroid’s point of

view, a good one.

Judge Zobel’s decision had not been quick, but it was definitive.

Almost nine and a half years after Polaroid had filed suit, it finally had

the result it sought. Judge Zobel ruled in Polaroid’s favor, finding eight

of the ten Polaroid patents valid, seven of which she found Kodak guilty

of infringing.2 Polaroid was victorious on all three of Land’s patents: the

L-Coat, the Symmetrical Supports and the Rear Pick. Likewise, all three

of Howard Rogers’ patents were declared valid and infringed—the two

covering the “Excedrin” film unit structure and his Negative Dye Devel-

oper imaging chemistry patent. Also found valid and infringed was Ware-

ham and Paglia’s Light Shield Deflector patent. Lloyd Taylor’s Mordant

patent was held valid but not infringed. The other two camera patents in

suit—the Gear Train and the Detachable Spread Housing—were found to

be invalid, but the judge ruled that if these patents were determined to be

valid on appeal, they were infringed.

The news of the victory spread quickly to Polaroid, and by 5:42 p.m.,

the story hit the news wires. United Press International reported, “Judge

Rya Zobel upheld the validity of 8 of the 10 Polaroid patents involved, rul-

ing that seven had been infringed by Eastman Kodak.”3 While cautioning

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