Judge approves Kodak patent sale to consortium led by Apple, Google

On Friday a judge approved the sale of 1,100 Kodak patents to a consortium led by Apple, Google, and Microsoft. The patent portfolio sold for US$525 million, well below Kodak's hope to get up to $2 billion for the patents. The once all-powerful photography company Kodak is going through bankruptcy in part due to the decimation of its film business with the advent of mass consumer digital photography over a decade ago. The company made the jump to digital too late and could not keep up with other competitors who quickly became leaders in the field.

The patents in the portfolio sold off on Friday are "for imaging technology used in digital cameras, smartphones and tablet computers," according to The Wall Street Journal. Besides Apple, Google, and Microsoft, other members of the consortium who bought the patents are Adobe, RIM, Samsung, HTC, Fujifilm, Facebook, Amazon, and Shutterfly.