Kodak manufactured a lenticular color film called "Kodacolor" in the 30s as well. The Kodachrome process was invented from scratch by Mannes and Godowsky who later sold the process to Kodak and who worked in the Kodak research labs for many years.
Kodachrome has had two process sequences in its history, none of which were "invented" by any other company. All Kodachrome processes relied on alkali soluable couplers which formed crystalline dyes in the film after processing and use 3 color developers. No other process did that, only Kodachrome.
The basic idea of a coupler that formed dye was invented in Germany by Fischer, who used ballasted dyes with sulfonic acid groups on them to form dyes in individual dye layers. Kodak used dyes which were soluable in oily organic solvents and which formed small droplets in the emulsion layer. The Kodak method was the only method compatible with multi hopper coating and as a result the original Agfa formulas used by Fuji, Konishiroku and others was abandoned in the 70s in deference to the high speed coating possible with the oil soluable couplers.
So, all modern chromogenic color films derive from Kodak technology except for the basic discovery of the coupler by Fischer in the late 19th century. Kodak was the sole owner of the Kodachrome process until they abandoned it in the 80s due to lack of interest by any other company and by a severe drop in sales of Kodachrome film.
Kodak is the holder of the basic patents on DIR couplers, colored couplers, oil soluable couplers, DIAR couplers, slide hopper coating, curtain coating and 2 electron sensitization to name a few. All other companies licensed this from Kodak. They hold basic patents on UF washing and ISO washing with PA gelatin. They hold many of the patents on T-grain emulsions as well as some unique color film structures.
They were the first company to eliminate Cadmium and Mercury from B&W and color papers and to eliminate ferricyanide from color processes. As a result of the latter, they were sued and lost to GAF, Pavelle and others due to a claimed compatibilty problem of other color papers with the new Kodak 3 step color process.
The word Blix was coined and used internally at Kodak and a visitor saw the first prototype bottles sitting on the shelf at EK on a visit to the Photographic Technology building. His company quickly trademarked it and forced Kodak to re-label their bottles and change the trade name to Bleach-Fix.
Kodak had a 400 speed Kodacolor film about 10 years before they sold it. They didn't think it was good enough, but when Fuji began selling one, they brought out their 400 film. The Fuji product was about 1/2 stop slower than the EK product. They had a 400 speed T-grain Kodachrome which was never sold due to lack of interest.
There is lots of history on this that y'all don't know.
PE
