“After hours on Tuesday, July 19, Apple (AAPL) announced quarterly results that included about $76 billion dollars in cash. Part of this money is probably partially to be spent ramping up the iPhone 5’s manufacturing, distribution and marketing, but it is likely that a great deal of that cash should still remain in the coffer,” Zvi Bar writes for Seeking Alpha. “While Apple could use that money to buy a large rival, that does not sound like Apple’s style. But Apple may spend a little of it buying patents, and I think Apple should buy Eastman Kodak’s.”
“On Monday, July 18, The International Trade Commission (ITC) upheld a lower decision that Kodak did not infringe Apple patents regarding digital camera technology,” Bar writes. “The ITC is still considering Kodak’s claims against Apple and Research in Motion, filed in January of 2010, complaining that the iPhone and some Blackberrys infringe on a Kodak patent for viewing images. Kodak settled similar patent disputes with LG Electronics Inc in 2009, and Samsung in 2010. At the end of June, the ITC affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded in part, Kodak’s patent infringement claim. These remaining ‘royalty obligations’ could each be worth several hundred million dollars, or more, based on the values from the prior disputes.”
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Bar writes, “Lawsuits costs Apple money to litigate and appeal, and purchasing Kodak could not only end one annoyance, but also give them an additional weapon in future patent litigation. Future claims between operating system makers and also between device manufacturers will only increase in value, and continued confrontation is likely… Yesterday, Kodak stated that it is looking into the sale of over 1,000 digital-imaging patents to raise money for operations, and noting this IP interest. Presently, Kodak is valued at under $650 million, is not profitable and has been in decline. A would-be buyer of Kodak’s Patents may want the whole company, especially if it could buy the two at a comparable price.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline Maisel” for the heads up.]
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