Kodak filed the complaint in January 2010. Kodak's patent claim is for technology for previewing an image on a digital camera's LCD screen before the image is captured. Though Kodak said the claim is for "fundamental" digital camera technology, Pender ruled that it was invalid.

The ITC decision is another blow for financially beleaguered Kodak, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. It had announced that it intended to sell some of its intellectual-property assets. Kodak also previously said that it has more than 1,000 other digital-image related patents.

However, Kodak said it intends to appeal the ITC ruling.

"We intend to appeal  the ruling on validity to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit," according to a statement sent via email Saturday by a Kodak spokesman. "The validity of the 218 patent has been upheld in previous litigation at the ITC, and was affirmed by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office in the face of two separate challenges, so we are confident that its validity will ultimately be upheld."