Late in the day, in a blow to Apple, the commission said it has decided to review an earlier decision that found that Apple and Research In Motion did not infringe Kodak patents in their smartphones. The initial decision, which is the ITC's first step after it decides to investigate a complaint, was issued in January by an administrative law judge.

The commission will now review that decision and may rule that Apple and RIM do infringe the relevant patents. If the commission does decide that they infringe, it can order RIM and Apple to stop importing the relevant products, which would include the iPhone, into the U.S.

Earlier this week, , it would expect to earn US$1 billion in royalty revenue from Apple and RIM. It is not clear over what timeframe Kodak expects to bring in that revenue.

Separately on Friday, an ITC judge said Apple does not infringe on five Nokia patents.

Nokia had charged Apple with infringing its patents in devices including mobile phones, music players and computers.