Judge Approves Sale of Kodak Patents to Apple, Google, and Others

A Judge has approved Kodak's long-awaited sale of its digital-imaging patents to a group of technology companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Google, reports the WSJ.

Judge Allan L. Gropper of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan signed off on the deal, which should take about 45 days to close because of international approvals that are still needed, Kodak said. The judge called the price "disappointing" but said it moves the case forward. The $527 million sale, to a group including Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc., still represents a key milestone for Kodak in its nearly one-year-old bankruptcy, as it continues to design a streamlined version of the iconic company as well as pay back its creditors. While the price is lower than the $2 billion or more Kodak originally sought at an attempted auction this past summer, it settles a lot of patent litigation that could have hurt the company's reorganization efforts even more.

Other companies that are part of the buying group include: Adobe, RIM, Samsung, HTC, Fujifilm, Facebook, Huawei, Amazon, and Shutterfly.


Kodak wanted $2.6 billion for the patents but initial bids from two competing groups came in under $250 million. The groups then joined into one consortium to purchase the patents for $527 million.

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