Apple and Google Joining Forces On Kodak Patents Bid 97
TrueSatan writes "Bloomberg reports that Apple and Google have partnered to make a bid of more than $500 million for the Kodak patent portfolio. The bid relates to Kodak's 1,100 imaging patents. 'Kodak obtained commitments for $830 million exit financing last month, contingent on its sale of the digital imaging patents for at least $500 million.' This is likely to be an opening bid, with the final figure being far larger. By comparison, a group including Apple, Microsoft, and RIM bought Nortel's 6000+ patents for $4.5 billion last year. 'Google lost the auction for those patents after making an initial offer of $900 million.'"
Oh Joy.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Local economy? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's too bad the cash from this patent selloff won't likely be seen in the local economy of Rochester, NY, Kodak's home town. We've pretty much given up completely on the once largest local employer. Too many of my friends have long since had severance packages run out. She's not sinking, rather she's already resting on the bottom of the ocean flapping a bit.
I wonder what is actually in the patent portfolio that Google and Apple can sue each other over in 5 years.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm tired of Google's power grab (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I'm tired of Google's power grab (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no reason for you to be marked "Troll."
Someone manages to get a huge long first post. That post repeats the standard Microsoft / Facebook trolling line that Google has gone downhill. That post SHOUTS and SCREAMS. The post mentions privacy violation without mentioning Facebook, about the only company willing to sell on fully identifiable material about any user on to almost anybody who signs up as a "developer".
Worst of all, the job of the "Troll" is to hijack the conversation and direct it elsewhere. In my case back to the topic on hand. We are discussing about which company has the worst privacy record which is completely offtopic; you are discussing meta issues as old as the hills (I am sure there one early comment on Slashdot: "Slashdot has gone downhill since comments started started last week"). Why aren't we discussing:
Why the hell are Google being forced to spend money on supporting Lawyers and the legal system instead of putting that money into development and "innovation"?
Are these legitimate patents on a real "inventions" or are they unconstitutional and illegal attempts to control freedom of thought and expression by using the USPTO to circumvent the first amendment and the US constitutions restrictions on patenting mathematics?
Is it just software patents that are broken, or is has the entire patent system become outdated? Is this maybe an example of the patent system working to protect the Kodak pensioners? Do you deserve money if your company fails to put it's invention out to real customers?
Re:1100 patents for digital imaging? (Score:4, Insightful)
I can understand Kodak owning some patents for digital imaging, but 1100? Are there really 1100 different ways of doing digital imaging, or just 1100 obvious ways of combining seven novel ideas?
Honestly? Without having looked into it, I'm willing to bet that quite a lot of those patents are legitimate old-style "proper" patents on real worthwhile things that Slashdotters would approve of. Bear in mind that Kodak did quite a lot of research into this, and probably came up with a lot of stuff, they just never commercialised it successfully.
Of course, these patents may be being bought and used for "bad" reasons, but that doesn't mean they were crappy patents in the first place.
Are there really 1100 different ways of doing digital imaging, or just 1100 obvious ways of combining seven novel ideas?
Do you genuinely believe that there are only seven truly patentable ideas in digital imaging?