Photography company Eastman Kodak Company(PINK:EKDKQ) is
exploring options for the disposal of its patents, other than auctioning, which
had attracted very poor response according to reports.
Kodak, which filed for bankruptcy in January this
year, had put up its 1100-odd patens up for sale to raise funds and pay down
debt.
It told a bankruptcy court that one of the options it
was considering was to keep the patents and set up a separate licensing firm to
repay its creditors.
The poor response to the auction of its digital
imaging patents, originally scheduled to be completed by August 20, has been
postponed thrice with bids coming at much lower levels than anticipated.
Kodak is expecting to raise about $2.6 billion from
the sale of the patents.
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The company is however not revealing whether the
auction delay is linked to the poor response. Last month it had said that it
had not yet taken a firm decision whether it intended to sell the patents and
might even decide to keep them.
The company is however optimistic that it will be able
to come out of bankruptcy protection at its scheduled date and the delay in the
auction process would not affect that.
"In the event that a potential transaction does
not occur, the debtors are consulting with the Reviewing Creditors with respect
to the retention of the Digital Imaging Patent Assets and the creation of a
newly-formed licensing company as a source of recovery for creditors in the
plan of reorganization," it said.
Analysts said that Kodak's patents may have been
already devalued by a large number of licensing deals and litigation, which
reduce the potential for new licensing deals.
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