A misinterpreted Apple patent caused GoPro’s stock price to fall by 13%

A new patent from Apple illustrates what the company describes as a portable camera that can be controlled via a wrist-worn remote. Many people misinterpreted this as a sign that the company intended to enter into the action camera market, which may not seem like that big of a deal, but it was enough to cause the price of GoPro stocks to fall by almost 13%. 

Apple’s newly reassigned U.S. Patent No. 8,934,045 illustrates a portable digital camera controllable via a wrist-worn remote. Taken at face value, the document appears to hint at Apple’s ambitions to enter the action cam market, but a quick look at the patent’s history reveals a slightly different story. The invention is credited to Keith Stoll Karn, Marc Krolczyk and Kazuhiro Joza, who reassigned the patent to Kodak in 2012. Subsequently published as an application in 2013, Kodak’s fairly exhaustive “Digital camera system having remote control” filing details a ruggedized digital camera and accompanying wrist-worn remote control, as well as underwater capabilities, stabilization technology and mounting options for helmets and bike handlebars. Language also refers to contemporary GoPro products by name, citing the devices as background information.