Apple has teamed up with Google for a joint bid on 1,100 patents being auctioned off by Kodak .
According to The Mac Observer , two different groups headed respectively by Apple and Google have joined together in their efforts to secure the patents. If they acquire the patents successfully, it would likely mean Apple and Androids OEMs would be free from patent infringement charges related to these patents.
Richard Ehrlickman, president of IP Offerings, said:
“Apple and Google learned a lesson from the Nortel’s auction. They have decided to come together in this process to reduce the cost of purchasing the Kodak patents, while meeting their business needs.”
In 2011, Apple put together a group of buyers under the name of Rockstar Consortium to buy a huge amount of patents from the bankrupt technology giant Nortel. That group consisted of Apple, Microsoft, EMC, Ericsson, Sony and Research In Motion. Working together, they dished out $4.5 billion to secure the patents.
Apple and Google have decided to work together this time around. This could possibly mean, the patent war between the two firms (by proxy) most likely will not expand to include Kodak’s patents.
Kodak’s patents that are up for auction are centered around digital imaging patents and Kodak has extracted significant licensing agreements based on some of the key patents included in the auction.
Kodak is looking to focus its business on commercial printing, enterprise services, and other specialized printing.
Even though Apple is working to bid on Kodak’s patents, the company has fought the sale of a key patent that it said is based on technology misappropriated by Kodak from a joint venture between the two companies in the 1990s.
Now that Apple and Google are working together, they are looking to bid more than $500 million. Which, individually, is a lot less than what they would dish out in order to acquire the patents alone.
