Apple on Thursday lost a bid to transfer its patent dispute with Eastman Kodak out of federal bankruptcy court.

US District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan denied Apple’s request to consider the patent dispute instead of the bankruptcy judge to whom the lawsuit was assigned, according to Reuters.

In July, Kodak filed a lawsuit in US bankruptcy court in Manhattan against Apple accusing the company of claiming ownership of 10 patents related to their joint work on the QuickTake digital camera undertaken in the early 1990s.

Privately held Apple spin-off FlashPoint Technology, who also claims ownership through an assignment from Apple, is included as a defendant.

The dispute centers on patents over technology that lets camera owners preview photographs on LCD screens.

Kodak has argued that Apple’s claims to the patents are intended to interfere an expected auction of the photography firm’s plans to sell its patent portfolio in early August.

Bankruptcy judge Allan Gropper is yet to decide on the issue.

District Judge George Daniels said he agreed with Kodak that the dispute should remain in bankruptcy court, at least until the judge there rules on some of the key issues, the report said.

Kodak had earlier secured permission from the US bankruptcy court earlier this month to sell more than 1,100 patents including 700 patents related to image capture, processing and transmission technologies used in digital cameras, smartphones and tablets.

Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in January, and needs to repay a $950m loan that it obtained to keep operating while in bankruptcy.

In July, an appeals court in the US ruled that Kodak does not infringe Apple’s digital imaging patents.

In March, Kodak sought approval from US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to investigate Apple’s patent litigation claims and said it disagrees with Apple’s bid to restart patent litigation.

In the same month, US Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper told the iPhone maker not to pursue parent claims as Kodak was in bankruptcy.

Apple has also been asked to refrain from filing new patent suits against Kodak over printer and digital camera patents.