Bloomberg reports that competitors Apple and Google have put their differences aside and are partnering up to purchase Kodak’s portfolio of patents for approximately $500 million.
Apple and Google have a history of battling it out in the smartphone market and almost any other technology sector as they fight to control market share. The two firms have also faced each other in court over patent disputes and other litigations. The expensive court battles and the heads of both companies believing the current patent systems is stifling innovation has led the technology companies working together to secure the Kodak patents out of bankruptcy.
According to Bloomberg, both firms have been trying to get control of Kodak’s 1,100 imaging patents. Apple partnered up with Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures Management to bid for the patents while Google got friendly with patent aggregator RPX Corp. and “Asian makers of Google’s Android phones,” which many believe is Samsung.
The move will also keep the price of the Kodak patents down because the two companies will not be fighting each other or be used by the seller to increase the overall price. Bloomberg states that Google and Apple have four months to come up with joint bid which should be less than what they might have ended up paying separately.
The joint move from the two companies should prevent a Nortel patent war scenario from occurring again. When Nortel ended selling its patents a consortium of technology firms and Apple out bid Google and ended purchasing the portfolio for $4.5 billion. In response Google paid $12.4 billion for Motorola and its massive 20,000 patent portfolio.
Source: TechCrunch
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