Kodak has signed a deal to get a lifeline of $793 million in credit from its bondholders, which would allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy. There's one catch, though: the company has to sell its portfolio of 1,100 patents for at least $500 million to get the rest of the cash, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Those interested in bidding on the patents include the same coalition of "strange bedfellows" that have been talked about for months as possible buyers. The group includes major smartphone companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung, as well as patent aggregators like RPX Corp. and Intellectual Ventures.
The bondholders include J.P. Morgan Securities and UBS AG, among others, according to WSJ sources. The board met last night to approve the deal, and a bankruptcy judge must give the OK as well.
The once-dominant photo company hasn't managed to keep pace since photography went digital, and it has turned to patent litigation to try to rejuvenate its bottom line. Kodak has tried to exact a new revenue line by demanding patent royalties from cell phone companies, arguing that the cameras on such phones use technology patented by Kodak. The company also started the process of selling off its document-imaging business.
Because such a wide range of entities is working together to buy these Kodak patents, it's unlikely they would fall into the hands of patent trolls or be used for other types of patent attacks. Rather, the patents are more likely to be bought and essentially be neutralized. This deal would allow Kodak to get one big lump-sum payment rather than eke out its patent cash in court. That would be a good deal for Kodak; its litigation has met with mixed success, in any case.
If the sale is successful, the lawsuits will go away. But the endgame will remain the same: competing companies—and, indirectly, consumers—will still have to pay a hefty tax to buy out a dying, but patent-rich, business.
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