They might be fierce rivals elsewhere – but it seems there seems to be some sort of weird camaraderie still left with Apple and Google. According to a recent Bloomberg report, both these companies have reportedly decided to join hands and acquire patents held by Eastman Kodak – the imaging company which filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy back in January 2012.
The decision to go hand in hand with the procurement of these patents might pave the way for a less litigious future. Kodak owns a variety of patents related to digital imaging and it is clear that smartphones of the future might require quite a bunch of them to remain competitive. The idea here seems to make sure that companies don’t waste their resources haggling over patent infringement suits.
The news the possibility of these two competitors interested in bidding for these patents was first reported by the Wall Street Journal back in August. Back then however, it was reported that the Google and Apple were leading separate consortiums to purchase the patents. The price expected for these patents were in the range of $150 million to $250 million.
Eastman Kodak has to repay a $950 million loan from Citigroup. The company expects to exit bankruptcy in 2013 and with its patents portfolio thought to be worth over $2.6 billion, there is high chance that Kodak might be back in business soon.
The decision by Apple and Google to partner with each other is in sharp contrast to their stands earlier. It was just a year ago that both the companies were in opposing consortiums while bidding for high-stakes technology patents owned by Nortel.
All said, the move to bid for patents jointly might be seen as a welcome sign by most people who have been following the mobile phones sector for the past few years.