The bubble in values for wireless patents may have burst. While Nortel got $4.5bn for its IPR portfolio, another bankrupt giant, Kodak, is receiving offers 25 times lower than that, for its massive digital imaging assets.
According to The Wall Street Journal, rival investor groups backed by Apple and Google are submitting bids in the range of $150m to $250m. Kodak and its team of experts have estimated the value at about $2.6bn.
These are only opening bids of course, but the WSJ’s source said that even if a bidding war ensues, the main participants do not expect to have to go beyond $600m. Kodak did not comment, citing a court confidentiality order. The firm has previously said its portfolio has generated more than $3bn in licensing revenues since 2001, so some of the jewels are the subject of litigation with Apple and others. The former camera giant is required to sell off some of its IPR collection as a condition of a $950m loan it received from Citigroup to keep it running while in bankruptcy protection.
Apple has sued Kodak, insisting it owns some of the patents itself, though a US bankruptcy judge last week denied those claims, ruling that the iPhone maker had waited too long to lodge its claims.