Apple joins Google in bid for Kodak patents

Apple Inc and Google Inc have joined forces to offer more than $500 million to buy Eastman Kodak Co’s patents out of bankruptcy, said two people with knowledge of the situation.

The two companies, competing for dominance of the smartphone market, have partnered after leading two separate consortia this summer to buy Kodak’s 1,100 imaging patents, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private.

Unlikely partnerships are typical in patent sales because they allow competitors to neutralise potential infringement litigation. A group including Apple, Microsoft Corp and Research in Motion bought Nortel Networks Corp’s more than 6,000 patents for $4.5 billion out of bankruptcy last year. Google lost the auction for those patents after making an initial offer of $900 million.

The Apple-led group pursuing Kodak’s patents included Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures Management LLC as of this summer, the people said, while Google’s consortium included patent aggregation firm RPX Corp and Asian manufacturers of Google’s Android phones.

Niki Fenwick, a spokeswoman for Mountain View, California- based Google, said the company doesn’t comment on rumour or speculation. Christopher Veronda, a spokesman for Rochester, New York-based Kodak, declined to comment on the patent sale, citing a court-ordered confidentiality agreement. Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment.