Kodak may not divest patents; seeks royalties through new licensing company
15 Sep 2012
Eastman Kodak Co, the iconic photographic film pioneer that invented the roll film way back in 1885, yesterday said that it may abandon plans of divesting its portfolio of digital imaging patents at an auction, and instead license the patents through a new licensing company.
In a filing with the US bankruptcy court in Manhattan, the Rochester, New York-based company said that its patent auction may not go through since it is having problems on reaching a deal with prospective buyers.
It also said that it would explore other alternatives for its portfolio of 1,100 digital imaging patents, including setting up a new licensing company in order to raise money to pay off creditors.
Kodak needs $700 million to pay its creditors and emerge from bankruptcy, which include $668 million to The Bank of New York Mellon, $16.7 million to Sony Studios, $14.2 million to Warner Brothers and $2.8 million to Alcoa Inc.
According to several media reports, Kodak received bids from prospective buyers like Google and Apple as low as below $500 million.
The sale of its digital patents portfolio could fetch the photographic pioneer around $2.5 billion, For years, Kodak has partly sustained itself by licensing its patents, which generated around $1.9 billion in the last three years, but revenues from this have been dwindling to just $27 million in the first half of 2011.