Kodak Sells $525 Million Worth Of Patents To Consortium Of Companies Including Apple and Google

Kodak has sold around $525 million worth of patents to a consortium of companies known as Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation.  Intellectual Ventures represents a portfolio of patents used by Apple and RPX represents a portfolio of patents for Google.  The sale of the patents will help Kodak with the bankruptcy restructuring process.  Kodak has been trying to sell the patents for a while and at one point they claimed Apple was intervening with the process.

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Kymeta Spins Out Of Intellectual Ventures, Raises $12M From Liberty Global, Lux Capital, and Bill Gates

Intellectual Ventures is known for having a massive patent trove and for filing a huge lawsuit against multiple companies.  Intellectual is spinning off Kymeta, an antenna technology company.  Kymeta has raised $12 million in funding from Liberty Global, Lux Capital, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.  Kymeta uses metamaterials to build antennas to improve satellite connections used for broadband Internet.

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Apple and Google In A Bidding War Over Kodak’s Patents

Apple and Google both want to buy Kodak’s patents, which are up for auction according to The Wall Street Journal.  Kodak has a portfolio of 1,100 patents in the auction.  Apple has partnered with Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures to make a bid on the patents.  Google partnered with Samsung, HTC, LG, and RPX to make a bid on the patents.  Kodak has filed patent lawsuits against various companies including Apple over patents.  Yesterday Apple lost a bid to transfer the Kodak patent lawsuit outside of a bankruptcy court.

Google Invested In Intellectual Ventures And Is Getting Sued By Them

Intellectual Ventures has recently sued Motorola over a patent dispute for Android. Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility. Google is also an investor in Intellectual Ventures so they are getting sued by a company in which they are an owner.
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Intellectual Ventures Suing 13 Companies for Patent Infringement

Intellectual Ventures is suing a group of companies for patent infringement. Companies being sued include Acer, Adata Technology, Asustek Computer, Best Buy, Dell, Elpida Memory, Hewlett Packard, Hynix Semiconductor, Kingston Technology, Logitech International, Pantech and Wal-Mart. According to TechCrunch, the patents deal with memory technology and methods.

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Intellectual Ventures Made About $700 Million In 2010 Revenues

Intellectual Ventures is a company known for applying for tons of patents. They make a lot of money from forcing companies into paying them for royalties. It turns out that Intellectual Ventures made $700 million in 2010 licensing revenue or $2 billion total to date. Intellectual Ventures was started by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold. Some people believe that Intellectual Ventures is a patent troll, but if you have read Superfreakonomics, you will learn that the company is involved in creating some useful inventions. [TechFlash]