Kodak files for bankruptcy: restructuring and patent suits
After a long decline, Kodak is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company had $5.1 billion in assets and $6.75 billion in debt as of September 30th, 2011, and its remaining value is mostly in patents, which it is currently trying to sell off and enforce. Kodak is expected to continue operating during bankruptcy proceedings.
Image credit: Liz Higgs (Flickr)
Kodak plans to emerge from bankruptcy this year as court approves $844 million in financing
When Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January of last year, it estimated that it would recover by mid-2013. Thanks to a court ruling today that approved new financing, the company appears close to fulfilling its plan; Kodak writes in an release announcing the court decision that the $844 million in financing will help the company exit bankruptcy mid-year. The approval follows a number of measures Kodak has taken in the last year as part of its reorganization, including a $525 million...
Apple and Google benefit as Kodak sells patents for $525 million
Kodak, which filed for bankruptcy in early 2012, has successfully sold off its imaging patent portfolio, one of its last remaining assets. In a release today, Kodak announced that it had agreed to transfer its imaging patents to Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation, a pair of patent licensing groups. In return, it will receive $525 million, something Kodak CEO Antonio Perez says will let the company "repay a substantial amount of our initial [bankruptcy financing] loan, satisfy a key...
Apple and Google reportedly team up for Kodak patent bid
Smartphone competitors Apple and Google may be teaming up to gain control of a trove of imaging patents from former film heavyweight Kodak. Bloomberg reports that the two companies were behind a bid of more than $500 million earlier this week for Kodak's 1,100 imaging patents. Kodak, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, had attempted to use its patent portfolio to sue several companies as its business prospects dwindled. Ironically enough, Apple claimed it had ownership of several of...
Kodak planning to exit consumer printing business as bankruptcy restructuring continues
Kodak today announced it would cease the sale of consumer inkjet printers and cut a total of 1,200 jobs, up from the 1,000 previously announced, as the company works to restructure its business after filing for bankruptcy earlier this year. The company believes this will help increase cash flow in the US, and said that it would help focus on its transformation into a company focused on commercial, packaging & functional printing solutions and enterprise services. This appears to be an...
Kodak announces plans to sell film, commercial scanner, and kiosk divisions
As part of its ongoing recovery efforts after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Kodak has announced its plans to sell its film, commercial scanner, and photo kiosk businesses. The proposed sale will fall alongside the company's current digital imaging patent auction, which it hopes will yield a return profitability and guide the iconic brand out of bankruptcy. As part of its larger reorganization plans, Kodak is moving away from the consumer market and will instead focus on commercial...
Policy & Law
ITC dismisses Kodak patent claim against RIM and Apple
Kodak's plan to recoup its losses by leveraging valuable patents has just been shaken, as the International Trade Commission has dismissed claims that RIM and Apple are infringing on a technique for previewing images. The case was filed in 2010, with Kodak claiming that the iPhone and BlackBerry's cameras violated the '218 patent, which covered techniques for displaying still images before and after taking a picture. Now, the ITC has upheld its judge's previous finding that the patent was...
Photography & Video
PSA: Kodak Gallery begins transition to Shutterfly, some user accounts unavailable
Kodak sold off its Gallery online photo sharing service to Shutterfly as part of ongoing restructuring efforts, and the transition is now taking place. Kodak Gallery has closed for business, with users unable to view their photos until their accounts have been transferred to Shutterfly. How long will that take? Well, that's the real question — Shutterfly CIO Geoffrey Weber tells the LA Times that the most active users will get priority and should be moved over within a couple of weeks, with...
Policy & Law
Kodak wins clearance to sell digital imaging patents
A bankruptcy court in New York has given Kodak clearance to sell off its digital imaging patents, despite objections from Apple and FlashPoint Technologies. Apple and FlashPoint initially challenged Kodak's patent auction back in January, claiming ownership over ten of the patent assets up for sale. Kodak finally responded to these claims last month, filing a lawsuit against the two companies for allegedly interfering with its post-bankruptcy sale. A decision in this case is still pending,...
Kodak sues Apple for interfering in patent portfolio sale
Kodak's patent sale is a major part of the company's plan to restructure after filing for bankruptcy early this year, but Apple quickly threw a wrench into that plan by claiming ownership of some key digital camera patents that Kodak was hoping to sell. Nearly six months have passed, but Kodak has finally prepared a response — the company just filed a lawsuit that states Apple wrongly claims to own 10 patents that came out of joint projects between the two companies back in the 1990s. Kodak...
Kodak sees revenue drop 27 percent in Q1 2012, reports $366 million net loss
After filing for bankruptcy in January, Kodak has released its financial report for the first quarter of 2012. Kodak's total revenue was $965 million, a decline of 27 percent from Q1 2011. Among other things, the company ties this decline to its decision to stop producing digital cameras in February. Despite that, it's actually losing slightly less money now. Kodak's consumer branch lost $164 million in the first quarter of this year, compared to $187 million lost in the same period last...
Shutterfly to proceed with Kodak Gallery purchase after no rival bids appear
Kodak announced plans to sell off its Gallery online business to photo-sharing service Shutterfly last month subject to a stalking horse agreement where other bidders could come in with an offer. It turns out that no competing bids materialized, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal, and so subject to approval by the bankruptcy court Shutterfly will be allowed to make the purchase for $23.8 million. While Shutterfly made $473 million in revenue last year and is looking to expand, Kodak...
Photography & Video
Kodak stops producing slide film due to lack of demand
Following the demise of Kodachrome, Kodak is stopping the production of its other color reversal films. Inventories of Ektachrome E100G, E100VS, and Elite Chrome Extra Color are expected to last from six to nine months, though Kodak will still be producing its E-6 processing chemicals. The company said that the move was due to dropping customer demand and complex manufacturing issues, and has essentially left Fujifilm as the sole remaining player in the market.
Color reversal film, commonly...
Web & Social
Kodak plans to offload Gallery online photo service to Shutterfly
As part of its continuing bankruptcy restructuring, Kodak has entered into an agreement to sell its online photo services business to Shutterfly for $23.8 million. The move will mean that the accounts and uploaded images of current Kodak Gallery customers in North America will be transferred to Shutterfly, though customers will be able to opt out. Shutterfly is a "leading social expression and publishing service" that will benefit from Kodak Gallery's userbase of over 75 million, though the...
Photography & Video
Kodak gets the go-ahead for $950 million bankruptcy financing
Kodak has won approval to borrow $950 million to finance its restructuring process, after filing for bankruptcy last month. The confirmation of the funding should allow the company to continue operating while it considers how to move forward. Kodak received the full amount it had requested despite some legal manuevering from Apple, which wanted to ensure that any Kodak assets that could be involved in patent disputes wouldn't be used to secure the financing. CEO and Chairman Antonio M. Perez...
Photography & Video
Kodak will cease production of digital cameras to focus on more profitable products
In the wake of its bankruptcy filing last month, Kodak is reportedly ceasing all production of digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and digital photo frames to focus on photo printing products and desktop inkjet printers going forward. This decision was made so the company could focus on the parts of its business that are most profitable, with the moves expected to save the company more than $100 million annually. This phase-out will happen over the first half of 2012, with Kodak working...
Policy & Law
Apple claims ownership in key Kodak patents on digital camera technology
Apparently Eastman Kodak's bankruptcy filing this week wasn't a surprise to anyone: just hours after Kodak filed in New York, Apple sought authority from the court "to enter into a $950 million postpetition financing facility secured by security interests in and liens upon substantially all of Kodak's assets." In essence, Apple is claiming to have ownership over key Kodak patent assets, including US Patent No. 6,292,218. According to Apple, this patent has been pivotal in driving Kodak's...
Policy & Law
Kodak files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Patent lawsuits won't save Kodak from an overhaul, it seems: as predicted, the photography company just announced that it's filed for bankruptcy. Kodak says it's voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in New York, in order to "bolster liquidity in the U.S. and abroad, monetize non-strategic intellectual property, fairly resolve legacy liabilities, and enable the Company to focus on its most valuable business lines." It's also tentatively obtained $950 million in debtor-in-possession...
Policy & Law
Kodak files complaint against Samsung for patent infringement
Kodak has taken the same patents it is already using in a lawsuit against Apple and HTC and applied them in a lawsuit against Samsung — with one more tossed in for good measure. The four main patents in question are all related to transmitting digital images, while the fifth is entitled: "Electronic Camera For Initiating Capture of Still Images While Previewing Motion Images." Kodak filed suit in the Western District of New York, and as with any patent case in the US, it is likely going to...
Policy & Law
Kodak sues Apple and HTC for infringing digital imaging patents
Eastman Kodak may be going bankrupt, but it's making a last-ditch effort to raise revenue before facing its creditors; the company announced today that it's suing both Apple and HTC for infringing patents related to capturing and transmitting digital images. Kodak has filed complaints with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and in its legal hometown of the Western District of New York. While the ITC complaint seeks to prevent importation of a long list of "infringing" devices by HTC,...
WSJ: Kodak preparing to file for bankruptcy in the next few weeks
It sounds like Kodak's long, slow decline is about to end in bankruptcy: The Wall Street Journal is reporting the company plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the next few weeks if its efforts to sell off a wide variety of digital patents fail to pay off. This comes after a November securities filing warning that Kodak would soon run out of money unless its patents were sold off or it found a loan; more recently the New York Stock Exchange said that Kodak could be delisted...
