Kodak seeks to auction off digital imaging patents

Kodak camera
Kodak is hoping to sell off its digital imaging patent portfolio

Kodak is seeking to sell off its portfolio of digital imaging patents in a bid to raise cash during bankruptcy proceedings.

The firm has filed a motion to have a silent auction process approved, which would allow those interested in purchasing the patents to produce their best offer without revealing the amount.

Kodak, which announced it was filing for bankruptcy protection at the start of the year and has since stopped designing and manufacturing cameras has sold off several patents and technologies in the past, including the division responsible for inventing the world's first digital camera sensor.

It is expected that the auction, if approved in July, will be held in early August with a winning bidder being announced in the middle of August.

Confidentiality

In a statement, the company said that it had marketed its assets over the past 12 months, and 20 parties had signed confidentiality agreements relating to the patents.

Among the patents it holds include those which relate to digital capture of images, processing and transmission of images and image manipulation, tagging and network based services.

Now focusing its efforts on the printing side of the business, the silent auction appears to be the latest move to help save the 120-year-old company from folding altogether.

via Reuters

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.