Kodak sells digital imaging patents to tech giants

Eastman Kodak is selling its digital imaging patents for about $US525 million ($500 million), money the struggling photo pioneer says will help it emerge from bankruptcy protection in the first half of next year.

Technology giants Apple, Google, Samsung, Research In Motion, Microsoft, China's Huawei, Facebook and Amazon.com, not patent trolls, are among the 12 companies paying to license the 1100 patents, according to court filings. Patents have become very valuable to digital device makers, who want to protect themselves from intellectual property lawsuits. But Kodak, which has been trying to make the sale happen for more than a year, wound up receiving substantially less money than had been expected.

New York-based Eastman Kodak said Wednesday the patent sale would help it repay a substantial amount of a loan it received under the bankruptcy process. It also satisfies a key condition of a new, cheaper $US830 million ($790 million) loan package, which required the patents be sold for at least $US500 million ($476 million).

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