ROCHESTER N.Y. – In an unusual pairing, two separate investment groups led by Apple and Google recently joined forces to offer more than $500 million to buy Eastman Kodak’s patents out of bankruptcy, according to a Bloomberg report.
The story, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the private negotiations, said the two separate groups decided to partner up after failing to land the 1,100 Kodak imaging patents, separately.
The partnership of rivals like Apple and Google will allow those involved to avoid potentially costly patent infringement litigation from outside forces.
Apple’s initial group included Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures Management, while Google’s partners included RPX Corp., a patent aggregation firm, and various manufacturers of Google’s Android phones.
The two groups had separately offered less than $500 million for Kodak’s portfolio.
The patents in question cover capture, manipulation and sharing of digital images, the report said.
Kodak has been seeking to sell the patents to fund a turnaround from its nearly year-long Chapter 11 status.
