Apple Won’t Loosen its Grip on Kodak’s Photo Patents

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has appealed a court ruling that dismissed its claim on two patents held by Eastman Kodak. The iPhone maker said in a court filing on Wednesday that it was challenging U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper’s decision to give Kodak partial victory in a lawsuit over ownership of 10 patents, Bloomberg said.

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The patents are part of the portfolio currently up for auction by Kodak. The photography company is hoping to sell the portfolio and generate funds that will help it pay off its bankruptcy creditors. Apple is said to be an interested party in the sale along with Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and a group of Android device manufacturers.

Gropper had earlier ruled in favor of Kodak on two of the patents, but denied the company’s request for a pretrial ruling on eight others.

A decision on Kodak’s planned auction, meanwhile, could come as early as today after the company received a court date for final sale approval proceedings for next week. Kodak earlier delayed its decision on the winner and insisted it could yet decide not to sell the patents after all. The troubled company was hoping to receive as much as $2.6 billion for the 1,100-strong portfolio, but court documents suggest initial bid only came in the $150 million to $250 million range.

A New York hedge fund that owns bonds of Kodak has also asked the U.S. Trustee to probe the patent auction because of the “unusually secretive” bidding process, Bloomberg earlier reported.

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