Apple And Google Involved In Kodak Patent Bid

The troubled photography company, Kodak, well-known for its dominance of the film camera market, has resorted to selling off 1,100 patents to cover some of the debt owed by the company. Kodak has received two bids from investor groups that include Google and Apple. The bids are thought to be in the region of $150 million to $250 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. These bids are on the low end, if the estimate from Kodak is to be believed. The company values the patents at up to $2.6 billion, a good 10-17x larger than the bid. Kodak has declined to comment on the auction, stating that speculation of the outcome of the auction is inappropriate. The low bids shouldn't deter Kodak - after all, patents from Nortel Networks sold for $4.5 billion in the end, despite having starting bids of just $900 million. It's also interesting to see that after Apple was found not to rightfully own some Kodak patents, it is seeking to acquire them. The patents must be very valuable to the company, although at the moment it seems that most tech companies are trying to get as many patents as they can - for instance Google bought Motorola Mobility, citing its diverse patent portfolio as the primary factor.